Anireal: Gaming-Inspired Album Explores Child Abuse

Anireal is a new video-game inspired album by composer Calbert “Schematist” Warner that explores child abuse. The album’s sound, inspired by video games, is based on the life of game developer and friend of Warner, Jessica Fong.

“After several conversations with fellow composers and artists, I noticed the topic of mental health was an area that was frequently ignored or unexplored,” Warner said. “While meeting Jessica Fong and hearing her talk so candidly about her abusive past, I realized I had more than enough motivation to create this project.”

The album tells her life story. The first happy and upbeat track, “Fragments,” is a reminiscing on happy moments from childhood, but the tone shifts in the next track, “Recovery,” which conveys the intimate thoughts of someone suffering from abuse and depression. Each track highlights a key turning point in Long’s life, leading to regaining her sense of self in the final track, “Anireal.”

“I was heavily inspired by video game composers such as Yuzo Koshiro, Nobuo Uematsu, Shoji Meguro and Zircon and wanted to blend a variety of styles together to create a convincing melodic storytelling experience, and I am proud of the end result,” Warner said.

Anireal is available now on Spoitfy, iTunes and Bandcamp. All proceeds go to the charity New York Centre for Children to help others suffering from child abuse.

Featured image courtesy Bandcamp.

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