ReMix: EarthBound 'Home Again'

Download MP3
4,833,280 bytes, 3:21, 192kbps

• Trade-in your Games or Anime DVDs!
• OC ReMix Shirts & Merch
• Games:
  • DS | GBA | GC | PS2 | WII | XBOX | 360
  • Imports & Pre-owned
• Anime:
  • DVDs & Merchandise

It's been a very long time indeed since Mr. North graced our pages, but after a multi-year hiatus he too has submitted something new, or relatively new, from the still-quite-popular Bound Together Earthbound project. Dale writes:

""Home Again" is something I slapped together at the last minute for Joe Cam's Bound Together. Pollyanna is a song I never wanted to tackle. Anyway, this was fun. I threw in a surprise and made sure it was loud as hell for surprise effect."

Even if it was "slapped together" for Bound Together, and the ReMixer was reluctant about the source material, the end result is an R+B ballad that sounds pretty pro, and pretty pretty. Acoustic piano, guitar, warm but unobtrusive pads, cymbal-heavy percussion, bells, and oboe round out the instrumentation, but the big surprise is that Dale finally busts out his velvety-smooth vocal chops in a game mix at 2'22", with background choral work joining in for the full effect. The lyrics are taken from the first verse of "Pollyanna (I Believe in You)", originally performed by Catherine Warwick for the 1989 Mother arrange album. I'd heard Dale sing on some originals of his a long time ago and wondered why on earth he hadn't applied his vocal abilities to his game arrangement work; it's good to see he's finally decided to do so. In fact, I'd say the only beef I have with this mix is that it's rather odd for a piece that's only 3'21" long to have the vocals come in with only a minute left over. Clearly Dale wanted the singing to be something of a surprise, but the logical intro point for a vocal would have been a minute earlier, in place of the oboe. Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely oboe part, but I'd prefer to have seen Dale do a bona fide vocal mix as opposed to an instrumental with a vocal passage, however good that passage may be. Hopefully, if this piece is well received, he'll consider doing just that in the future, and submitting it as well. Regardless, this is a lovely piece that takes R+B arranging into the more inspirational, contemporary/spiritual direction than anything I can think of. Generally, that's really not a genre of music I can get into very much at all, but Dale's performance and arrangement abilities make this both accessible and memorable.

― djpretzel