MIDI Week Singles: "Paintings on the Wall Pt. 1" - Layers of Fear (PC, NS, & MQ2)

 

"Paintings on the Wall Pt. 1" from Layers of Fear & Layers of Fear VR on Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, & HTC Vive, PlayStation VR, Oculus Quest 2, & Meta Quest 2 (2016 & 2020)

Composer:  Arkadiusz Reikowski

Album: Layers of Fear Soundtrack

Label: Limited Run Games

Publisher: Aspyr, & Bloober Team SA

Developer: Bloober Team SA, & Incuvo S.A.

I just recently finished Layers of Fear VR on the Meta Quest 2 over the weekend (stay tuned!), and having already used the Main Theme from the original and my first playthrough of the game for a MIDI Week Single back in 2018, I thought that I would use "Paintings on the Wall Pt. 1" being a song that I know from the game, but I cannot specifically place when this song was played.  I feel like it was likely used multiple times.  The music in this game is sparse as it focuses more on the sounds of the mansion as it crumbles around The Painter as his mind degrades.  When the music does crop up in the game, with one or two exceptions, there is a sense of relief, that you can finally breathe and feel less tense, an effect that a lot of music creates on its own.

With "Paintings on the Wall Pt. 1" it still has that somewhat-calming effect in-game, that you feel like this is a moment to reflect on a revelation by The Painter or the player on something that just happened.  Out of the game and listening to the song on its own, the song takes on a similar but expanded view.  There are layers of reminiscence as I recall playing the game, both recently and as far back as 2017 when I first played it.  There are feelings of sadness about what happened to The Painter's family and the negative effect he had on their lives.  Then there are also the questions as to the mental state of The Painter, brought on through some combination of alcoholism and likely undiagnosed mental health issues (I am not qualified to make any kind of diagnosis based on the events in the game).  And on top of all of that is the fear I felt playing this game all three times.  The anxiety about walking down a hallway to find that the door I entered through is no longer in existence, of the fear of anticipating a jump scare as I reach down for a torn picture on the ground.  

All of this comes out in this song and is just another reminder of how this is one of my favorite video games.

~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian
Still Calm with My Mind at Peace