English-born Giles Lamb is no stranger to the music industry. After nearly thirty years of functioning as a consistent cog within the career’s ever-ticking clockwork and gladly boasting the awards to show for it, there are very few reaches of the music-making machine that Lamb is unfamiliar with. Audiences are undoubtedly familiar with his soundtrack compositions, featured not only in film and television but in video games, and this versatility seems to be exactly what keeps Lamb trekking ahead. One of his most notable works for millennials and younger is as iconic as it gets: his composition for the Dead Island video game trailer.
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Those familiar with the trailer hold it in high regard, and anyone unfamiliar with it would do well to acquaint themselves — having won the Golden Lion at Cannes back in 2011, Lamb’s impeccable score has recently celebrated its tenth birthday, and to fully accompany this landmark achievement, Lamb’s latest offering comes in the form of an anniversary video that reinvigorates the classic track with a new recording of the arrangement. Consisting of well-shot footage of an orchestra performing the track, the video is a worthwhile addition to a song gamers already have a nostalgic attachment to; seeing “Dead Island” come to life in the hands of a top-notch composer and orchestra, and in real-time through the video’s footage, brings much-deserved attention to the world of classical music.
The craft on display and the sheer overwhelming emotional response you’ll derive from the video is enough to make you forget that the song is attached to a trailer for a video game about zombies attacking folks on a tropical getaway vacation. The video’s editing perfectly paces the showmanship of the full orchestra cut against Lamb sitting at a piano in a darkened rehearsal space and the fullness of the sound is truly felt by these visuals.
“Dead Island” fully re-contextualizes itself with this recent video accompaniment, positioning the music to bring listeners to new highs and freshly-realized settings and imagery not necessarily tied to a decade-old zombie survival game. The gorgeous videography instills Lamb’s work with a new lease on life, and the track will assuredly go on to find success with this new and revitalized angle on the composition. The lush piano joined with the sullen strings section does wonders to paint itself as a song about general feelings of deep and sincere emotion, and the overall arc of the song as it crescendos into a full orchestral ballad is something listeners will find hard to ignore.
Giles Lamb smartly allows the music video to speak for itself, as he and his players emote fully with their precision and dedication to such a beautiful piece of music, and the rest will go on to be history. Those coming to the song through its video game roots will be more than happy, and those discovering it for the first time are in for an emotional three minutes. Ten years later and Giles Lamb proves that there isn’t anything to fix if the work was never broken in the first place, and with “Dead Island,” the cult status more than speaks for itself.
Chadwick Easton