Jake Kaufman makes Mina the Hollower sound bigger than its tiny tools

Jake Kaufman’s Mina the Hollower soundtrack gets 23 June review attention, and it sounds like a perfect reminder that limitations can become instruments when the composer knows what they are doing. Kaufman has deep roots in chiptune and game music, including early professional work on Game Boy Color hardware, and this score reportedly makes the most of restricted tools. That is the magic of great retro-inspired soundtrack work. The point is not merely to imitate old hardware for nostalgia points. The point is to understand what that palette can still express: danger, speed, gloom, discovery, boss-fight panic and tiny melodic hooks that punch well above their bit-depth. Mina the Hollower’s throwback world gives Kaufman exactly the right playground. The score sounds less like a fake antique and more like an old machine discovering new blood in its circuitry.

Source: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/jake-kaufman-mina-the-hollower-original-soundtrack/