Hello everybody! It’s certainly been a while since I posted here. My last blog came out in September, and somehow, we’re already over a month into the new year. A lot has happened since then! I usually like to make a year-end roundup post here on my website and go over the biggest Restart Again points of the year, but life seemed to get in the way this time around. I’ll do my best to retroactively make a roundup sometime in the near future, but here’s my five second summary: I published Restart Again Volume 5, I started a Patreon, I wrote a completely unrelated standalone light novel for the JNC competition, the Restart Again Volume 5 audiobook released, and I got sick enough to miss out on writing for the entirety of my annual December vacation!
However, this post isn’t about ANY of that! Instead, I’d like to talk about the return of one of my favorite projects in the Restart Again universe, and that’s the original music! I once again worked with the fabulous @plac_holder to create another 4 tracks to enhance the world of Restart Again. These commissions were finished in December, but as I said, I wasn’t entirely feeling up to sitting at my computer and writing a blog post about it, so they’ve been sitting on my computer with no company apart from my own ears. I’m long overdue in posting these, so let’s hop right into the music!
…Right after one quick note. If you aren’t a member of my Patreon, you haven’t seen any of the 6.5 draft chapters I’ve posted for Volume 6. That obviously won’t be an issue when it comes to enjoying some fantastic music, but the characters these tracks are themed around will be entirely foreign to you. I wanted to do the work out of order from my last two musical commissions and get the themes done BEFORE the characters were entirely set in stone. That way, the music could help inspire the characters a bit! I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that when I start mentioning names and places you’ve never heard of before, you’re not going crazy; it’s just a taste of things to come!
Alright! Let’s get into the tracks!
Exile [Variation on Lux’s Theme] by @plac_holder:
If you’ve checked out the musical commissions up to this point, I’m sure you’ll recognize Lux’s theme in this new piece. Our protagonist has certainly gone through quite a bit in the past five books, and we’re certainly meeting him at a new low point in Volume 6. As such, I wanted to get a variation on his motif that would really focus in on his new isolation. It’s the sort of track that might play as Lux walks down the street of a new, unfamiliar city, totally alone once again, and I think we’ve really hit the nail on the head with that vibe here!
The Rain That Softens Stones [Kana’s Theme] by @plac_holder:
In the first of the themes for new characters, we’re meeting Kana! I’ve always been a pretty big fan of the sort of “lofi beats to study to” tracks you see on YouTube’s front page, and I finally think we’ve found ourselves in a setting that reasonably accommodates that sort of music! In the midst of the cold, unfeeling metropolis of Karabaszt, Kana provides a gentle warmth that could soften the stone of even the most surly protagonist.
Brighter Days [Sylas’s Theme] by @plac_holder:
Everyone, meet Sylas! When you find yourself thrown into the depths of yet another new world, you need to find yourself a guide, and that’s the role that Sylas serves in Volume 6’s narrative. Keen-eared listeners might recognize some similarities between Sylas’s theme and Lux’s original theme, “Lamentations”, and that’s most certainly intentional! Sylas is a pretty direct foil for Lux in the coming story, bringing a brighter and more hopeful outlook to Lux’s (perhaps understandably) dour mindset. The two might end up butting heads as much as they get along, but Sylas will never give up his love for both his city and his family.
Feral Heartbeat [Maz’s Theme] by @plac_holder:
We find ourselves once again in a style of music that certainly wouldn’t have fit in the high-fantasy world of Kaldan, but is just right in the sprawling city of Karabaszt! Maz’s theme is as upbeat and high-intensity as she is, just as much at home in the Fallen Stars club as it is in a back-alley brawl. It’s definitely a departure from the type of music I’ve commissioned up until now, but I think it’s a true 10/10 banger!
Well, there you have it, folks! Another set of musical commissions for the Restart Again universe, posted only 1.5 months late. All of these tracks will be uploaded to the “Music” page on this website, both in the standalone tracks you heard above as well as in 30 minute looped versions for easy background listening. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have!
Before I go, a quick update on the progress of Volume 6. Though I missed quite a bit of writing time due to some ongoing health issues, I’m still working my way through the draft! I’m currently writing chapter 7, with the project totaling somewhere around 42,000 words. It’s certainly a bit behind where I’d hoped to be at the start of the new year, but considering I also wrote an unrelated 60K+ word book over the summer, my writing total for 2024 is pretty good, I think! If you want some more consistent updates (as well as access to the aforementioned draft chapters as well as early artwork previews [Character sheets for Maz, Sylas, and an updated Lux for the moment!]), hop on over to my Patreon! However, as always, I’ll do my best to keep everybody informed of my more general progress here on my blog. Until next time, stay safe out there, and as always, thanks for reading!
~Adam
