Secret of Evermore Soundtrack

Secret of Evermore Soundtrack, Jeremy Soule, 1995

It is fair to say that a game like Secret of Evermore would meet with less hostility today. The idea of a Western console RPG is no longer an affront to players raised on Japanese genre fare. Back in 1995, however, what many Square fans in the West wanted was a localised Secret of Mana 2 / Seiken Densetsu 3. What they did not want was a more grounded alternative to JRPG heroics — particularly one littered with pop-cultural references and shaped by a metaphysical, lightly tongue-in-cheek sensibility.

And so Secret of Evermore began its uphill battle. Sadly, its music was caught up in that struggle — entirely undeservedly so. Even decades later, perceptions of future star composer Jeremy Soule’s debut remain curiously ambivalent. The usual complaints are familiar: that there is hardly any music in the first place (the game certainly uses ambient sound more extensively than any earlier console RPG, but there is still close to an hour of melodic material to enjoy); that the score album omits too much of the game’s music and focuses too heavily on one of Evermore’s time periods (in fact, the album does a very good job of gathering most of the worthwhile cues, which simply happen to cluster around Gothica); and that the music itself is unremarkable.

That last claim usually comes from listeners expecting Secret of Evermore to sound like a JRPG. Unsurprisingly, it does not. Its score is as much a departure from genre convention as the game’s broader stylistic direction. What often goes overlooked, however, is one crucial similarity with Secret of Mana: both games pursue genuinely individualistic approaches to RPG scoring, searching for alternatives to the late-romantic orchestral language that so often dominates the genre.

Ironically, Soule’s demo tape — which secured him the project — apparently followed precisely that more conventional path. According to producer Alan Weiss, the young composer’s early material was a mix of John Barry and John Williams. Perhaps it was the SNES’ limitations that pushed Secret of Evermore in such a different direction. Weiss noted that Soule was accustomed to working with far more advanced digital audio tools. Yet the machine’s restrictions may have been a blessing in disguise. It is hard to ignore that Secret of Evermore remains, by some distance, the most creative score of Soule’s career.

Somehow, Soule finds a convincing musical counterpart to the game’s peculiar blend of low-key realism and eccentric fantasy — a world that can accommodate Gothic castles and rampaging robot butlers without ever becoming broad or cartoonish. As expected, there is little of the RPG genre’s usual high-fantasy heroism to be found here. No confessional melodrama, either. Even the soundtrack’s “flying” cue — the sort of moment where an RPG composer usually cuts loose with soaring sentiment — remains a restrained, though no less fascinating, affair.

Throughout the score, Soule writes primarily for small ensembles, usually led by intimate woodwind and acoustic-guitar soli. Their chromatic melodies hover between mystery and quiet enchantment, drawing subtly on folk and jazz inflections. There is a sophistication to this approach that belies Soule’s relative inexperience in astonishing fashion. These compositions contain a remarkable degree of emotional ambivalence and nuance, while also revealing a composer fully in command of the expressive possibilities of his chosen instruments. The dominant mood may be one of melancholy and autumnal lyricism, but sombre menace, quirkiness, and ethereal allure always remain just beneath the surface. The music’s beauty does not present itself all at once — it asks for patience.

Yes, contrary to its reputation, the Secret of Evermore soundtrack contains a wealth of wonderful melodies. They may be less immediately hummable than those of many JRPGs, but they are just as rich — perhaps even more enticing — because they head into less predictable harmonic and rhythmic territory. A final, crucial part of the score’s success is the striking quality of Soule’s samples. On a soundtrack built from so few elements, each sound must make its full impact. It is hard not to marvel at the lifelike quality of the acoustic-guitar writing, while the various woodwind timbres that drift through the score have a warm, inviting glow that never fails to beguile.

It may sound a little heretical, but once one sets aside the preconceptions history has burdened Secret of Evermore with, the score emerges as one of the finest RPG soundtracks on the SNES. Restrained yet sophisticated, it strikes an unusually exact balance between atmosphere and melody.