ArcaneThe secret sauce has always been its soundtrack. There's no better example of this than one of the first scenes in the first episode of season 2, when Caitlyn mourns the death of her mother. Instead of forcing heartbroken dialogue to communicate how she feels, the show adopts a completely unique animation style, with stylized black charcoal sketches that draw color from Caitlyn's world.
But to underscore Fortiche's inventive animation, the show needed a song as specifically suited to Caitlyn's emotional state as the visuals are, so the show's creative team turned to Freya Ridings to write a beautiful, haunting ballad that let into Caitlyn's head. This kind of decision is over. Arcane – and according to showrunner Christian Linke, it always will be.
Ahead of the show's Season 2 premiere, Polygon had the chance to sit down with Linke to talk about how he and the team work with artists to create the perfect songs and why he feels licensed music has no place on the series .
Polygon: Arcane He often uses original songs to communicate his characters' feelings in a way that dialogue alone could not. What is the process of creating those songs and finding the right artists for each moment?
Christian Linke: Conceptually, it's very important to me. I don't think I'll ever work with licensed music in my career and I think it just comes from having been a musician. It's really difficult to have a career in music. The fact that so many franchises with so much money continue to write checks to Led Zeppelin makes me think: Cool guys, I'm sure you need it.. There are so many musicians struggling to have a career. It's such a ruthless world out there.
So I love the fact that everything we do is original music. We work with artists from the ground up, we collaborate and we give to them, and some of these artists that we work with don't need the platform, they're already big, but for others, it's really cool for them. It really gets the word out. That's really important to me, it's a principle that has been maintained from the beginning. It creates a lot of work, but that's also what makes it amazing.
You start with a scene in an episode where they feel what you're trying to say, and then you just find the right artist and that's where you need a good team. We have an incredible team. [with] the group Riot Music, where I just say, I need an emotional song where it's about this and that.either I need a really loud song that talks about the anger of this and that.. And then they leave OKThey take that away from me and think about the artists and come back to me with a list of artists that we then reach out to.
So you meet with the artist there and give them an idea of what you're looking for?
Yes, I inform you, This is what the moment is all about.. For example, when I worked with Mike Shinoda, it was something I thought about: It's about Caitlyn's legacy, the feeling of what it means to be a member of this esteemed family that has been really important to Piltover and the weight that comes with that.. And that's when he wrote “Heavy Is the Crown.” And it's something that if you put the right thoughts in the artist's head, you end up getting these amazing pieces of music that you couldn't have even dreamed of yourself.
What are you listening to when you receive those samples that your team sent you?
I think the emotional connection, the lyrics have a meaning. When Sting's song starts in season 1 and he says, “I'm the monster you created,” I think: there it is. It just belongs and sits. It suits creative fashion where you simply feel connected. And that's a big part of it. Other than that, I think it's just a piece of music that's fun and seems to say something. The obvious choice is sometimes necessary for a fight scene, but sometimes the real surprise that I liked about season 1 is that we had very different genres. “Our Love” was such a different genre than what you would expect from a show like Arcane. And we did the same thing again in season 2. Very, very different and very eclectic genres. But yeah, my job is mostly to make sure there's a clear emotional connection to the story.
Are there any limiting factors on what type of genre and what type of music can be in Arcane And can you feel like this?
No. I mean, if anything, people can say I've taken it too far. I like loud things, I like extreme things. I will say that sometimes there are genres where it makes sense, but I don't feel comfortable in those genres and I'm not always as confident in giving feedback and so I need to trust the team more. Hip-hop: I'm just a terrible person with terrible taste that way. Guitar music: I know what to do. So we have a team that is a team of musicians, of composers who sometimes need to save my ass, let's be honest, to make sure we get a certain piece. We have a very eclectic group and I think what made it work is that we have a lot of different tastes represented that they can incorporate when needed.
The first three episodes of Arcane Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix. Batches of new episodes come out every Saturday.