Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima has always been open about his interest in media outside games, claiming to be 70 per cent movies and regularly expressing his love for bands like Chvrches, Apocalyptica, and Silent Poets. However, when it comes to implementing music into his games, his tastes sometimes border on the esoteric.
Death Stranding is no exception. Although its denouement is accompanied by a powerful performance from aforementioned Glaswegian synth-pop band Chvrches, its key narrative moments are complemented by tracks from Ryan Karazija’s ambient Icelandic Low Roar project, which was written and recorded after the Californian singer moved to Reykjavik.
“I try to be connected to the actors, film directors, authors, artists, and musicians I personally like,” Kojima tells Eurogamer. “The way I select the music or artists is based on trust I establish with them. The natural connection (strand) I have with these people makes it possible to work together.”
Meanwhile, Karazija tells me about the first time he met Kojima, where they sat down together and ate at a fancy restaurant in Los Angeles. “You had to have a membership,” he tells me. “I had just driven down to Los Angeles in a ripped-up t-shirt. Me and Hideo were the only ones in t-shirts because it wasn’t our thing.”