The opportunity to resurrect Until Dawn is both exciting and terrifying. Until Dawn’s musical legacy is highly valued and we aim to respect and honor the high water mark of the original score through musical innovation and enhancement. We wanted to take Until Dawn in its own direction, bringing new composers and songs to the story to help differentiate it from other horror titles. Between new music and carefully selected licensed tracks, every aspect of the soundtrack has been handcrafted to further immerse players, while creating a defining identity for Until Dawn in 2024. Here are some key aspects of music you need to pay attention to as you survive the night on Blackwood Mountain…
A song of death
When reviewing the title sequence, the development team knew they needed a song to do justice to the beautiful, eerie visuals. We were lucky to discover an unknown artist named Mae Stephens, who had the unique qualities we were looking for. She enjoys the opportunity to explore a darker, more cinematic sound than her upbeat pop songs that are exploding on TikTok. Her first demo gave us shivers…. A few months later, we got ‘Out of the Shadows’, a separate song that tackles the themes of faith, important imagery in the game, and the fate that eventually befalls us all. The song builds on a new thematic motif, exploding like epic strings at the end of the song.
“Out of the Shadows” releases digitally on Friday, October 18. Watch the trailer for the Until Dawn-inspired music video below – the full video drops tomorrow!
Legendary composer
We conducted an extensive demo process to consider composers who make unique contributions to the horror genre. From here we find Mark Korven, a Canadian composer with deep roots in the horror genre with films like The Witch and The Lighthouse. Mark created the Apprehension Engine, a custom instrument that has become a staple sound for contemporary horror soundtracks.
This is Mark’s first score for a video game, and he’s worked closely with PlayStation Studios’ Creative Art Music team to help translate his music into an interactive medium.
A new topic
Key to the score is a new thematic motif, a pair of simple yet haunting melodies woven throughout the score, and newly created songs. It’s a harbinger of untold horrors, a wickedly joyful melody that draws you into the world of Until Dawn. You can listen to the song below.
Note: The section below contains story spoilers for Until Dawn
Location and opponents
Each location in the game has its own musical identity. Listen for more organic, natural sounds in the lodge and forest. Sanatorium has echoes of the past buried in the mix (lush romantic retro phrases and ’50s-style choruses) along with a more haunting, desolate palette in its haunted state. deserted. The musical texture of the mines contains metallic scratches and stone textures, with dispersions of the Wendigo palette.
Speaking of which, each villain in the game has a unique sound. The Stranger is a dark, dusty combination of woodwinds and percussion that hints at their uncertain loyalties. The Wendigo has a defining musical motif, a hissing string that alerts the player to their presence whether seen or not. Finally, Psycho (which you can listen to below) is a distorted blend of guitar, percussion, and piano, including a motif that can give players clues to their identity.
Set the scene with song
It may sound odd, but here in 2024 Until Dawn is a period game, set in 2014-2015. Key moments can be looked at to crystallize the emotion of a scene or simply set the game to the music of the moment.
A newly recorded version of In For The Kill, which serves as the soundtrack to the brutal prank scene, speaks to the dual perspectives of Hannah and her ‘friends’, along with countless bloodthirsty evil forces . (You can also hear the theme in this recording subtly).
Tracks from Purity Ring, SG Lewis, Maverick Saber, etc. give more insight into the other characters and their musical preferences. Each song was carefully executed in each scene – more on that later. And there might even be an Easter egg for patient fans, a nod to previous versions of the game, to discover…
A deadly design
Being able to revisit every aspect of Until Dawn’s music gave us the opportunity to go deeper in terms of musical design and execution. Here are some pieces of musical design to pay attention to during your stay at Washington Lodge.
The branching nature of the story means there are hundreds of edits throughout the game, each supporting the player’s choices.
The key moment where this can be seen is the Snowball Fight, at the beginning of the game. This moment involves a licensed song – the song “Warm” by SG Lewis. Like several songs in the game, the song is placed first, playing from Jess’s phone. As the scene progresses, it becomes non-diegetic, emphasizing the scene. Scenes have good and bad outcomes; If the player kills the bird, licensed music exits, transitioning seamlessly into the score to emphasize the sad moment. However, if the player makes the right choices and ultimately decides to kiss Mike the lyrics of the music play – a musical bonus of sorts for achieving the ‘best’ result.
There are several themes related to each character – if that character dies, so does their thematic material.
Fear is a big part of the game and the music heightens these with jabs and upheavals. These boosts are often interactive, increasing as the player gets closer to the jump scare. And sometimes we intentionally build in nothing – making it impossible for players to predict when fear is justified.
Dr. Hill is a fan favorite and we wanted to maintain a facade of uneasy calm during his therapy sessions. The playing of classical music changes over time, representing the deteriorating state of his patient’s mind. The piece itself is a Prelude and Fugue derived from the Until Dawn theme motif.
Finally, we also wanted the ending of the game to feel like you were watching a horror movie from the time. So take a listen to another bespoke song – So Below’s ‘Forgive and Forget’ – which turns the Until Dawn motif into a dark gothic number. The musical catharsis follows the horrific events of a night on Blackwood Mountain.
We hope you enjoy the game, available now on PS5 consoles and PC*. Look out for the official soundtrack release, which will be available on all major music streaming services in the near future.
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*Requires a PlayStation Network account on PC.
