Sound & Vision

One of the wonders of music today is that creators can reach out across the world to colleagues, to collaborate with them and even just tell them how much we appreciate their work. The 2000s were a lonely place for an Irish composer, and it was easy to feel that the ANÚNA message hadn’t got out there, hadn’t had any impact on music across the world. While I heard echoes of our special sound (most notably at the end of Metal Gear Solid) as far as I was concerned Diablo III was a wonderful experience that would not be repeated.

In 2016 that I met a composer who whose work I already knew while I was in Japan, the legendary Yasunori Mitsuda. I had no idea that he knew my own work. Speaking of his first encounter with Anúna through our album Deep Dead Blue (1996), he says "I felt that ANÚNA was a new type of chorus that I’d never heard before. My attention was drawn to the lead singer, Michael McGlynn, and I dreamt about making music with ANÚNA one day. After 20 years, my dream came true through the making of the game Xenoblade Chronicles II".

We were in Japan on tour in 2017 and our schedule allowed for a session with Brian Masterson and Mitsuda’s team in Tokyo. The recording was very special. Here was a visual composer, like myself, who has a vision for the music he wants to create that closely equates to external visual stimuli.

ANÚNA recorded four songs on the soundtrack of Xenoblade Chronicles II (Nintendo), one of the best known video game franchises today. I was so inspired by the experience of working on this beautiful game that I created a video, which was released in November 2017 for the launch of the game internationally, for the song "Shadow of the Lowlands". The video was carried on Nintendo’s YouTube channels worldwide, and began a fruitful association with Yasunori Mitsuda and his amazing team.

We were incredibly proud when in February 2018 ANÚNA won the Outstanding Ensemble category of the Annual Game Music Awards 2017 for our contributions to this game.

In February 2018 ANÚNA travelled to Tokyo to participate in a project called Xenogears Revival - The Beginning and the End. It comprised of four full-length concerts that resulted in a live blu-ray and a physical release on disc. It was created to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the release of the legendary video game Xenogears. The blu-ray was released in March 2019 by SquareEnix.

One of the most moving moments of the recording sessions for the album was the inclusion of Lucy Champion as the soloist on the track “The End of Childhood”. Mitsuda-san was a long time admirer of her singing and she is the mother of Aisling McGlynn (who we will hear more about later in this article).

This was an amazing experience that involved extensive choreography and even a rotating stage. I was asked to write a note for the album release and I think it gives a good background to these unique performances :

“When I discussed the music of Xenogears with Yasunori Mitsuda for the first time I was struck by his vision for the music and his admiration for ANÚNA. I knew that he would create scores for us that would enhance the strength of our special vocal sound.

We are used to movement and working without musical scores in performance, and I saw the soundtrack as a story, not just a series of songs stuck together. I was most anxious that our movement and the way we interacted with each other on stage would be sympathetic to what the audience expected and loved about Xenogears.

The story of the game is deeply emotional, moving through fantastical concepts and mystical landscapes. This very much fits into what we normally do in our concerts and forms the basis of the music that I have created as composer for ANÚNA. Therefore when we walked on stage for the first time it was not an alien feeling, and we were not scared. It was like we were coming home, walking into a space where magic can really happen. During the performances I believe that real magic did happen.

My initial concerns were that because we create such a unique sound, the audience would not be happy with our contribution as it would be so different to the original soundtrack. I could not have been more incorrect. The audience throughout the performance were entranced and welcomed us with open arms. The memories will remain with us forever.”

ANÚNA visited Japan again in Autumn 2019 to appear on the iconic Japanese music show Nodo Jiman のど自慢 (NHK) and it was there Yasunori Mitsuda heard my daughter Aisling’s sing the solo on the iconic “Mononoke Hime” from the legendary animated film Princess Mononoke.

He asked her if she would like to sing on the soundtrack of Chrono Cross: the Radical Dreamers Edition (SquareEnix) a spectacular remaster of the classic Japanese video game with a newly recorded soundtrack. This was one of those legendary games I always wanted to play in the 1990s, so in some ways this was a dream come true. It was to feature two songs written in the Irish language and a third vocalise that featured Aisling. The world locked down but we persisted and completed the recordings down the line to Tokyo in January 2020. I created a video for game developer SquareEnix which was released in early 2022 as the game was significantly delayed due to Covid. Creating something that brought so many talented people together and was recorded between Japan and Ireland was a special experience for all of us involved. Our relationship to Japan is deep and long standing.

Aisling says “being able to work on this project with Mitsuda-san and arranger Mariam Abounassr was truly an incredible experience, one I will definitely hold close to my heart for the rest of my life. With the help of my father Michael and cousin Éabha, I was able to become a part of the magical story of Chrono Cross. This is my final year in school and this release has really given me a huge boost before my exams!”

The lyrics of the songs, written originally by Chrono Cross director Masato Kato, were adapted and translated by myself and Éabha McMahon (aka the recording artist AVA).

Éabha says “having the opportunity to collaborate with Michael and Aisling was an extremely rewarding experience. I am so proud to have worked on a song in our native Irish language (Gaeilge) as I am a passionate Irish language speaker. I connected immediately with this project and it is very special to be able to breathe new life into music that has already had such a positive impact on the world”.

“Writing Irish language lyrics and promoting the revival of the language through gaming and global music collaboration is very important to Michael and I”.

In 2021 Mitsuda’s team reached out to us again to outline a new project that would hopefully involve singers from ANÚNA. We were very proud that they choose ANÚNA's Sara Weeda to sing two key songs on the brand new Xenoblade Chronicles III (Nintendo).

Sara's distinctive voice features in the lineup of her band SeeD Pagan Folk and her flexibility as a soloist with ANÚNA and extensive experience in multiple musical genres made her the ideal choice to sing these two beautiful, and challenging, songs. It helped enormously that Sara is also a huge gaming fan! “I am honoured to have worked with composer Yasunori Mitsuda ,whose music takes the game's storyline to a whole new level. Thank you to the Procyon Studio Co., Ltd. team, Brian Masterson, Mariam Abounnasr, Keita, Lauren, Aisling and Michael McGlynn, Lucy Champion, and everyone involved in the creation of this amazing game”.

Also featured on this stunning soundtrack were two more ANÚNA singers, Aisling and Lauren McGlynn whose distinctive voices appear throughout the game representing Ouroboros and Mobius. Ouroboros is sung by Aisling and Mobius by Lauren.

I have to personally thank Keita Korematsu who was instrumental in forming this lasting relationship with Yasunori, Mariam and Mau. This has meant so much to myself, Lucy, Lauren and Aisling.

The profile of video game music is in the ascent.

Composers and artists are creating new worlds that become more complex and immersive with each passing day. However, that does not mean that the power of this music can only be experienced within the context of gameplay. Far from it. All over the world a generation of young people who traversed these imaginary worlds have grown with this music as part of their deepest and most precious experiences. And that brings me full circle.

The week before her final school exams Aisling travelled over to the Royal Albert Hall to perform with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra led by the wonderful Eimear Noone. Eimear has not only trail-blazed as a female conductor across the world, she has been instrumental in bringing this music to an audience that hungers for the memories that are carried within this powerful and beautiful art form. It was a night to remember for all of us.