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Press release:
SEATTLE – September 13, 2018 – Materia Collective is pleased to present the Lamplight City (Original Game Soundtrack) with music composed by Mark Benis. Exploring a story full of mystery and intrigue featuring two detectives in a dystopian world, the sometimes ominous but always clever film noir-inspired score doesn’t miss a beat, employing a high piano note for that flickering street light, tremelo and pizzicato strings for the dark alleyways, or an unsettling harp for the unbreakable bond between detectives Miles Fordham and Bill Leger. The Lamplight City (Original Game Soundtrack) is available today:

Lamplight City (Original Game Soundtrack) on Bandcamp
Lamplight City (Original Game Soundtrack) on iTunes
Lamplight City (Original Game Soundtrack) on Spotify

Listeners of the soundtrack will experience all the ups and downs of the game’s riveting story over the course of 41 tracks. As such, each piece has it’s own story to tell, including Benis’s arrangements of the old English drinking song, “Down Among the Dead Men.” One acts as the ending theme while another serves an entirely different purpose in-game:

“In a cathedral you visit in the game, you encounter the church’s choir director named ‘Singin’ Tom’ who is playing through a piece at the organ,” comments composer Mark Benis. “The only problem is he hasn’t been practicing it, a chorale arrangement of ‘Down Among the Dead Men.’ Frankly he’s terrible at it. As the composer I had to figure out a way to create a believably horrible performance so I did it the only way I know how: I played the chorale myself. I stayed up until 2am, took off my glasses, and sight-read it hunched over my MIDI keyboard months after I had first written it. It’s the worst performance that I’ve ever given, but in context maybe it’s my best? On the album you hear the piece after Singin’ Tom practices quite a bit, but in the game… get your ears ready.”

Learn more about the Lamplight City (Original Game Soundtrack):
https://www.materiacollective.com/music/lamplight-city-original-game-soundtrack

About Mark Benis
Mark Benis is a composer, conductor and orchestrator for film and video games. Years ago he fell in love with the music of the original Pokémon games and those catchy tunes have inspired him beyond anything he could have imagined. Mark has had the pleasure of collaborating on many wonderful projects, including Materia Collective’s Pokémon Piano Collections and FATE: A Tribute to Majora’s Mask. He is a staunch advocate of making the video game community a welcoming and supportive place for any and all who wish to call it home.

In addition to composing music Mark is also developing a narrative-adventure game called The Worst Grim Reaper with the studio Moon Moon Moon. He has branched out into narrative design, UI, and animation systems, giving him a whole new appreciation for all the heart that goes into making games. Currently he is pursuing a masters in multimedia scoring at NYU Steinhardt.

Learn more: https://markbenis.com
Follow Mark Benis on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and SoundCloud

About Materia Collective
Materia Collective is a Seattle-based videogame music publisher and label, representing an international array of renowned video game musicians, composers, and songwriters. The collective supports its members with the financial, legal, logistical, and creative aspects of bringing videogame music into the forefront. The company has become known within the industry as a representation of highly innovative game music endeavors that move and inspire.

Learn more: https://www.materiacollective.com
Follow Materia Collective on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and SoundCloud

Jonas “O.J” Ek
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround