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Life is Strange's soundtrack is full of licensed bangers, and still hits even 11 years later

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A masterclass in music curation.

(Image credit: Square Enix)

With Life is Strange: Reunion recently wrapping up the decade-long story of Max Caulfield and Chloe Price, I've spent the last couple of weeks thinking a lot about the game that started it all. 2015's Life is Strange came during a hugely formative time in my life—going through some big changes, returning to college after a three-year gap and in that stage of life where you realise you don't actually have everything figured out the second you leave school.

Critical Hit

Welcome to Critical Hit (formerly known as Soundtrack Sunday), where I celebrate and lament all things videogame music, audio design, and the ways our favourite games make our ears tingle.

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Life is Strange Life is Strange

(Image credit: Square Enix)

Life is Strange uses tons of this sort of moody or cosy indie rock. Distorted acoustic guitars, sad men, angsty men. A vibe that feels authentic even when deeply manufactured. An experimental vibe. Just some sad people making sad music in their sad studio. But that experimental flavour fit so perfectly with Life is Strange, a game that also felt like Dontnod figuring stuff out.

The game's excellent soundtrack choices culminate in the very final song, Foals' Spanish Sahara. A song so incredibly loaded with angst and emotion that I genuinely couldn't imagine a more fitting ending track. It works no matter the choices you've made—whether you're attending funerals, driving away from a town destroyed, or reflecting on things you could have done better. It's a song so good and so encapsulating of the game that current series developer Deck Nine brought it back for Reunion, if you come face-to-face with the Dead Timeline Chloe.

I think that subsequent Life is Strange games have some pretty stellar song selections, too—I got very giddy hearing Girl in Red's I'll Die Anyway towards the beginning of Reunion—but nothing will ever come close to how meticulously curated the first game's soundtrack felt. Scrappy, emotional, and heartfelt. Just like the very game each song starred in.

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