At the moment standing as 2025’s best-reviewed sport, tied solely with Blue Prince, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an exceptional expertise from a gameplay, narrative, and soundtrack perspective. What actually resonated with my first playthrough of the brand new RPG although, was the music. Composed over 5 years by Lorien Testard, Clair Obscur’s music stands with the potential to be topped among the finest videogame soundtracks of all time.
Among the many 154 songs that compose the sport’s eight hours of music sits the gorgeous “Till Subsequent Life,” which marks actor Ben Starr’s first foray into performing online game music. Starr, who performs Verso within the sport, tells GameSpot the amusing story of how Testard approached him to sing on the soundtrack.
“I have been on this business for about 5 minutes, so I actually have not accomplished rather a lot, relative to a variety of my superb colleagues and friends. I am attempting to do every thing in all places, suddenly. Actually, I really feel like I am juggling 1,000 issues and carrying one million totally different hats,” he begins, “I’d by no means get to do it once more. I used to be in Montpellier, and [Testard] simply sidled as much as me, and I used to be actually intimidated as a result of this was the primary time I used to be assembly him. I’ve heard his work and I used to be like, ‘I do not wish to embarass myself.’ Then he pulled me apart and I used to be like, ‘What is going on on?’ He simply mentioned, ‘I would such as you to sing on the soundtrack. Would you wish to do it?’
“I genuinely thought I would misheard it, so I did not wish to say sure instantly, as a result of I used to be identical to, ‘Why? Why would you need me?’ however with out even considering I simply mentioned sure, probably not eager about the implications of my actions.”
Testard has his personal recollections of asking Starr to be concerned, too. “I wrote the music Ben is singing, I believe perhaps a yr earlier than asking him to do this. It is a actually vital music for Verso and for the sport, and we recorded it with the orchestra. It was an emblematic observe with orchestra and voices, and Verso. I inform Guillaume [Broche, Sandfall Interactive CEO and creative director], ‘Will probably be actually cool if we will have the actors sing, so let’s ask.’ I met Ben at Christmas one yr later, and I’ve the music in thoughts, and I requested him to hearken to it, and if he needed to sing on it. He mentioned sure, and we recorded the morning after.
“It was actually, actually spectacular to have a voice actor who isn’t a singer to do the singing elements. Truthfully, I’d by no means let the music on the soundtrack if I did not prefer it. It may have been very laborious for me to say, ‘No Ben, it did not work,’ so I am so glad that I actually just like the music, and I believe it provides rather a lot to the soundtrack.”
Starr then goes on to elucidate how, the night time earlier than recording the music and whereas visiting Montpellier with co-star Jennifer English, he bought a bit of over-excited. “I believe I launched a big portion of the workforce to tequila pictures simply when the night was dying down. I believe I purchased like 20 tequilas, and I used to be that annoying individual at a celebration that is like, ‘Do your tequila shot!'” he recollects.
“Clearly, they did not need them, so I used to be left with far too many going, ‘Superb, I will do the tequila pictures.’ So, turning up the following morning and going into the studio and being like, ‘Thanks, sir, train me the way to sing this lovely music,’ with Alice [Duport-Percier, vocalist]’s vocals already over it, and me contributing alongside it, it was actually intimidating.”
These tequila pictures by no means hampered Starr’s efficiency, although. “Hopefully–I am saying hopefully, I’ve heard it–I am so pleased with it. I am so proud to be part of this journey, and to discover various things. It is not a stunt, it’s narratively actually intriguing and I believe it provides rather a lot to the story.”
Whereas some thought the launch of the Oblivion Remaster simply days beforehand may spell catastrophe for the indie sport, Starr disagrees, saying that Clair Obscur can “exist alongside” the juggernaut.