when is the theme song coming to Spotify?
Music maketh the trailer. I’ve said it once, twice – a thousand times. I bought Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War because of the Blue Monday trailer. I was immediately impressed with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle because the initial showcase perfectly timed the Indy theme with well-placed Nazi punches. I was already intrigued by Stranger Than Heaven – the historical setting(s), coupled with my ever-growing love for RGG’s quirky adventures had me from the get-go. Stranger Than Heaven was a game that I knew I wanted to play from the reveal teaser alone. Then, the cast and story video appeared, accompanied by one of the best videogame themes that I’ve heard in… maybe ever? Excited doesn’t do my feelings justice.
But there’s a problem: a big problem. The Stranger Than Heaven theme of the same name – which features Japanese superstar Ado, rap icon Snoop Dogg, Grammy-winner Tori Kelly, and Fujihara Satoshi of Official HIGE DANdism – isn’t on any streaming services. You can choose to watch the trailer on repeat (guilty, as charged), but there’s in-game voiceover throughout and the song’s volume changes to accommodate for it. Then, there are fan-made AI reworks that remove the VO, but that’s a solid ‘ew’ from me.
So, when I sat down with Director Mikinobu Abe and Yakuza series Producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto at Gamescom, there was one real question on my mind: the only question that matters, I’d argue: when is the Stranger Than Heaven theme coming to Spotify?
Our interview took place on a Friday morning after two intense days of Gamescomming, so I can admit that some delirium had probably set in here. My question prompts a laugh from the duo and their translator, with Sakamoto responding, “unfortunately I can’t promise any dates right now.”
He does go on, however, to state that “at the proper time, you will be able to listen to the song on these platforms.” My question was directly about Spotify, but it’s likely we’ll see the track appear on the likes of YouTube Music and other streaming services, too. And maybe on vinyl, hint hint, wink wink.
Music, however, is at the core of Stranger Than Heaven. Star-studded cast aside (which also includes the late Tupac), Sakamoto says that the snazzy jazz bars and roaring post-WWII feel juxtapose nicely against the more “serious tone” of Stranger Than Heaven, with “the show business and music part” of the story “working to balance that [seriousness] out.”
That balance is “unique” to Stranger Than Heaven, which, as a result of being set across various different historical time periods, doesn’t have the same, modern “fun parts” of Like a Dragon – you can’t just casually hang out at a karaoke bar, for example. “I think we have a new kind of balance established,” he muses: “It doesn’t necessarily have a humorous side, but there is a large variety with this musical focus.”
It’s back to YouTube for me in the meantime, though – I’ll admit that a million of those two million views on the trailer are probably just me relistening to the song over and over again. RGG, when the vinyl’s ready, call me.