Milan Records releases Bobby Krlic's soundtrack to Returnal, the latest PlayStation 5 (PS5) video game. After crash-landing on a shape-shifting alien planet, Selene must search through the barren landscape of an ancient civilization for her escape. Isolated and alone, she finds herself fighting tooth and nail for survival. Again and again, she’s defeated – forced to restart her journey every time she dies...

Bobby Krlic's electronic score for the PS5 game Returnal is about as atmospheric as you can get without descending into chaos. The themes and set pieces that are woven throughout the 9 tracks (34 min, 41 sec) are ethereal and certainly other worldly, without resorting to tired old cliches.

Each track is very different from the last, and while some may feel that quite a lot of this is ambient, background music, I was swept up in both its complexity and, paradoxically, simplicity. It's futuristic without being cold, lifeless and dystopian in its outlook.

Krlic delivers way more than a casual listen reveals. If you let this wash over you you'll soon realise what a manipulative master of soundscapes the composer is.

8

Darren Rea