FFXIV Dawntrail soundtrack EPs are all released. Here are my quick thoughts

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FFXIV Dawntrail soundtrack EPs are all released. Here are my quick thoughts​

Based on the news we had before, there are three music extended plays (EPs) released in order of date, and now these EPs are all released. I have already listened all of them in game and in YouTube, so I want to share my thoughts for each song in the EPs. First, I have to separate by album:

EP1​

Track name	Length	Implementation	Composer	Arranger	Lyricist / Performer	Notes
Morrow's Might	0:09:22	City day	Masayoshi Soken	Masayoshi Soken, Saya Yasaki	Tuliyollal day
Windswept Echoes	0:02:44	Field day	Saya Yasaki	Saya Yasaki	Urqopacha day
Pathmaker	0:04:42	Dungeon boss	Masayoshi Soken	Takafumi Imamura	Dungeon boss
A Trail Unending	0:06:42	Dungeon	Masayoshi Soken	Shoya Sunakawa	Dungeon Lv.100
Smile	0:04:32	Secondary Theme	Masayoshi Soken	TomoLow	Michael-Christopher Koji Fox, Phil Bright / AKINO	Ending Theme

This is the first lineup for the EP, which releases the basic and early parts of the track and also the secondary theme

1. Morrow’s Might
   1. Composed by Soken as the motif maker, then arranged by him and Saya Yasaki. The use of one of jazz or big band arrange may put people off by the cultural themes of Tuliyollal. That aside, this is actually something missing from FFXIV tracks, the jazzy track. Yes, I know we already have that certain kind of track in Endwalker expansion. This uses Smile motif as the template for all city themes (including Solution 9).
   2. Speaking of motifs, do you know recent FFXIV city tracks are basically another rendition of secondary theme? Look at Shadowbringers, Endwalker, and of course Dawntrail city themes day and night.
2. Windswept Echoes
   1. Finally, after Endwalker field themes, which were fully composed by Soken, we got non-Soken field track composed and arranged by Saya Yasaki. You can see the sound quality and the instrument usage are different than what you usually hear in most field day tracks by Soken. This reminds me of Kenichi Kuroda or Ken Ito when they worked in Shadowbringers. This leaves me a good impression of this person who can actually compose some good melodies on paper until production.
3. Pathmaker
   1. You can see Takafumi Imamura’s exploration on typical FF music patterns, either past or present, which you can hear on the intro. Then, he turned into waltz tempo so that it resembles a dance of the viper but it’s still triumphant at the same time.
4. A Trail Unending
   1. This is the first time we hear Shoya Sunakawa’s work in FFXIV. Although he was in FF7 Rebirth, which also reminds me that Takafumi Imamura and Daiki Ishikawa were in FF7 Remake, he’s somewhat good enough to help with his arrangements. Initially I don’t really mind about this track played in job action and story trailer, but when I hear contextually, this is so good! I like that Soken planned this track into two parts so that Sunakawa elevated into uplifting energy to make a pinnacle moment.
5. Smile
   1. Probably one of the most controversial tracks in FFXIV, or maybe the most. Previous posts regarding this theme in at least reddit are justified enough from various perspectives, though sometimes there are some who are a bit unhinged. I once talked with a content creator who usually does music reactions, you know who. He said that this theme is a modern take of the musical, just like what’s in the opera back then, except with different genre. However, I noted that there were issues between the lyrics and the lead vocal, which he agreed to me. I suspected the lyrics were too wordy (high syllables per second) which makes the lead vocal struggled to sing, which resulted the singer desynced frequently with the lyrics. Other than that, it’s all fine including the choirs.
   2. But yes, this shocks people about how it sounds and how it’s implemented. Personally, I rather put this in the credits only. I’m fine with that

EP2​

Track name	Length	Implementation	Composer	Arranger	Lyricist	Notes
The Skyruin	0:07:31	Trial	Saya Yasaki, Masayoshi Soken	Saya Yasaki	Trial 1
Morrow's Magic	0:06:44	City night	Masayoshi Soken	Daiki Ishikawa	Tuliyollal night
In Fulgur and Fire	0:04:21	Dungeon	Takafumi Imamura	Shoya Sunakawa	Dungeon Lv.97
Seeking Purpose	0:08:32	Trial	Masayoshi Soken	Daiki Ishikawa	Trial 2
Bygone Serenity	0:07:50	Field neutral	Masayoshi Soken	Masayoshi Soken	Living Memory neutral 1

The EP2 focuses on the midsection and later parts of the expansion.

1. The Skyruin
   1. We got Monster Hunter music at home, especially you, Ceadeus. You may often hear this style back in Heavensward or Stormblood days, but this one takes a different approach. This is pure Saya Yasaki and I like it so far. The reason why Soken is still in the credits beacuse there is a Dawntrail motif at the midsection. This means it’s a balance between Dawntrail theme and Urqopacha theme to elevate the Yok’Tural part of the story. That aside, this is something FFXIV forgets about the OST and here we go, a good synth orchestral piece by Yasaki.
2. Morrow’s Magic
   1. Now we get the night version of Tuliyollal city theme. It still has the same vibe as the day theme. But I like that since Endwalker, we’ve got a good chill sounding night theme so that we can relax a bit.
3. In Fulgur and Fire
   1. This confirms that the Shaaloani theme and motif are composed by Takafumi Imamura. However, in this dungeon, this theme is arranged by Shoya Sunakawa. They can make a good combination if they want to. Those crying guitars at the drop may remind you of Dynasty Warriors music, but with techno beats, I think this is a tandem between both staffs. If that’s the case, the definition of “composer” might be split.
4. Seeking Purpose
   1. This is Daiki Ishikawa??? Boy, where do you come from since then? But yeah, I’m not saying this is his best work, but I am impressed and glad that he can explore more into this kind of track. Usually this section screams Imamura, but this time it’s by his own genmate. Remember that Ishikawa arranged “The Extreme” and “Seven Flames” so this raises him more that he can open to these stuffs.
5. Bygone Serenity
   1. Now we’re back to Soken’s originals. As you can hear for many tracks we heard before, you can hear the samples of the clarinet and strings. This track has two movements in Soken’s fashion. He likes to change keys or make another movement when it’s possible. Sometimes he overthinks a bit about how the composition would like before going on production. But you can tell he’s actually a good motif writer on paper.

EP3​

Track name	Length	Implementation	Composer	Arranger	Lyricist / Performer	Notes
Starless Skyline	0:05:06	City neutral	Masayoshi Soken	Takafumi Imamura	Solution 9
Paved in Solitude	0:07:43	Trial 3 1	Masayoshi Soken	Takafumi Imamura	Trial 3 1
Paved with Resolve	0:06:01	Trial 3 2	Masayoshi Soken	Yoshitaka Suzuki, Masayoshi Soken	Trial 3 2
Blessings on the Bluffs	0:05:43	Dungeon	Takafumi Imamura	Justin Frieden	Dungeon Lv.100 EX1
Bee My Honey	0:04:27	Raid	Masayoshi Soken	Masayoshi Soken	N. Nasir / ???	Raid 2

EP3 themes on the Xak’Tural especially on Solution 9 and also the late and endgame tracks.

1. Starless Skyline
   1. Welcome back to the house of Takafumi Imamura’s electronic music. This time we got lo-fi beats to study to Smile (wait, Smile again?). This is expected and I must say this one is way better than what we got in Solution 9 trailer in the fanfest. That one was way aggressive and oppressive. I mean, that’s a template or a mockup. Glad they changed it.
2. Paved in Solitude
   1. Remember Imamura’s take on Zeromus? Yep, it’s him again. I guess I don’t need to explain further about this. It still feels template Imamura, but I’m fine with that
3. Paved with Resolve
   1. And this is the only Yoshitaka Suzuki’s work. He mentioned that he only made only one track in this expansion, and here it is. This is basically a synthesized arrangement of Dawntrail, which was performed with live instruments.
   2. Speaking of Dawntrail theme, you occasionally hear the synth strings part. That was actually apparent in Shadowbringers and Endwalker, which were already Soken’s signature composition.
4. Blessings on the Bluffs
   1. Huh, weird that this one is in the list because the rest is on Solution 9. But anyway, this confirms again that Shaaloani theme is composed by Takafumi Imamura. This time, Justin Frieden arranges the track into something calm in the plains. This reminds me of The Qitana Ravel dungeon in Shadowbringers which makes the calm yet explorative vibes.
5. Bee My Honey
   1. It gives away that the first filtered vocal reminds me of one of Soken’s filters, and it’s right, it’s him again. How dare he, but I don’t mind though. His ability to explore musical genres is something interesting. For me, he likes to do something weird without fearing the track is between best and worst reception wise. This means he’s basically a “testing the waters’ person before someone coming in with him. It’s good that he acknowledges some of the criticisms, though it’s not an excuse to make everything on samples and libraries. Other than that, we finally get the new lyricist, N. Nasir, whom Soken mentioned that is some of the non-music staffs in CS3 (formerly CBU3) were involved in this music. We still don't know the vocal, even though he mentioned it's one of the staffs too.

Summary​

I think they have a good job with the roster so far. The pattern I see now is that they want to rely less on the guest/third party composers which we can see there are many Square Enix composers. Furthermore, those composers are now allowed to compose so that it can distribute jobs for a bit. Before, we got a centralized assignment which you could see that most of the compositions/motifs were from Soken. Now, with distributed composition jobs, which you can see Yasaki and Imamura are allowed to compose for main stuffs, I believe they as a team can make more tracks for this series while keeping the sound quality.

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