Happy Friday everyone!  Borealis here.

It's time for another three tracks from the Venus: Improbable Dream soundtrack!  Check out the video below to listen as you read!  Let's get into it.

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Hokago

This is the first of our location-exclusive pieces, as Hokago only ever plays in one room of Kakeru's school - the music club.  The Japanese word 'hokago' means 'after school', which is when the music club takes place each day, and this club is the scene of many new experiences for Kakeru.  Led by Kudo-sensei, its flamboyant and cheerful advisor, it's a place of excitement, where everyone is passionate about music and eager to learn and improve.  Thanks to this, I decided to make its musical theme something happy-sounding.  Since classical music is the club's focus, I recalled my own training in classical piano as a child, remembering the types of pieces I learnt for my exams back in the day.  One such piece was a minuet, which originates from France and was used to accompany ballroom dancing in the 18th century.  Minuets are always in a 3/4 time signature, like a waltz, and they tend to sound very chipper and happy, which is exactly how I wanted the music club to feel.  I wrote my own minuet, making sure it was bouncy and upbeat, keeping it simple with just a single piano, and there you have it - Hokago was born.

Family

Our second location-specific piece, Family only plays in Haruka's house, a place not often seen at all in the story of Venus: Improbable Dream, but when Kakeru does get a glimpse of it, he's able to learn a lot more about Haruka and her parents.  Like Hokago, I wanted the theme of Haruka's home to have some sort of classical music feel, reflecting Haruka's love of it.  I also wanted it to sound warm and happy, as her home is a place of great contentment for her.  Taking this into account, I created a piece that was a little more orchestral and old-fashioned, with airy strings and a harpsichord - an instrument that resembles a piano, but with a very different tone.  Harpsichords are synonymous with the older eras of classical music, so I thought it'd be fitting for Family, as well as a nice change from the other instruments that appear in the rest of the soundtrack, making the piece stand out even more.

Akasu

The Japanese word 'akasu' means 'reveal', which is telling when it comes to this piece.  Akasu is a soft, somewhat romantic piano track that is used during moments when Kakeru and Haruka have a sentimental moment between each other, sensing their relationship deepen, and hidden feelings becoming slowly revealed.  A fun piece of insider info is that it's actually derived from a song I wrote way back in 2012, back in the days of my solo music project, Purple Prose.  The Akasu you'll hear now is an instrumental piano version of a full band and vocal song called 'The Kiss', the first track from the EP I had out back then.  I felt like the vibe of the song was just right to make into a piece for Venus: Improbable Dream, so I came up with the new arrangement and recorded it with just a piano.  Since Akasu only appears during important emotional moments relating to Haruka and Kakeru's strengthening connection, I really hope you enjoy it a lot when it does!

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That's all for today!  On Monday, there'll be three more tracks, and I hope they don't give you emotional whiplash, because while two of them are sad and tense, the third is victorious and happy!  Ready for feels?  I hope so!  Also, I'm happy to announce that the brand new trailer for Venus: Improbable Dream is now up on Youtube, and you can see it right here on the game's main Itch.io page, so why not check it out and share it around?

Have a great weekend!

Borealis