Out now, Piano Realms: Azure is a chill piano music celebration of gaming’s favourite water levels
Fire and ice levels are frequently mocked, but what about water levels? They’re nearly as prevalent as fire and ice and as anyone who’s seen Sonic the Hedgehog breathe his last, they can be just as fatal. But there’s something so relaxing about wending your way through an underwater cavern, even as you wait for that next air bubble. It’s this and other moods that Piano Realms: Azure, a music album celebrating gaming’s favourite water levels, aims to nail.
Out now digitally and coming to vinyl soon, Azure is the work of David Peacock and performer Augustine Mayuga Gonzales. It features tracks from Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye, ABZU, Donkey Kong Country and many others. The underwater theme from the original Super Mario Brothers doesn’t appear, which is a mildly disappointing omission.
As its title suggests Piano Realms: Azure reimagines each of them as a piano track, which dials the chill factor up to 11. We’ve had a listen and we could feel our blood pressure dropping with each track. We’re not entirely on board with opening Piano Realms: Azure, an album of game music, with an original track, but that too is a stress-melting earful.
There are still hints of menace in tunes like Dark Waters (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) and Dire Docks (Super Mario 64), but Azure is a seriously-intriguing ambience album. Right now, we’re leaving it on the as the soundtrack to our morning, a serious gear shift from Battle Beast’s Russian Roulette.
Related: The 10 Best Video Game Soundtracks of All Time
Azure’s full track list is as follows:
- Caustics (Original)
- Melisma of the Waters (Sea of Stars)
- Aquatic Ambience (Donkey Kong Country)
- Dark Waters (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time)
- Secret of the Deep Sea (FINAL FANTASY VII)
- Inkwater Marsh (Ori and the Will of the Wisps)
- Shore of Another World (Chrono Cross)
- Balaenoptera musculus (ABZÛ)
- The River (Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye)
- Dire Dire Docks (Super Mario 64)
- Delfino Plaza (Super Mario Sunshine)
- Cascades (Hyper Light Drifter)
You can listen to the entire album here at BandCamp, where it’s available for digital purchase. The digital version is $12 and the vinyl versions are $35. Piano Realms: Azure is also on Spotify and the usual other platforms. Now, if we could just get a follow-up with Turrican 2’s “The Great Bath”…
