Rob Kovacs has been making music in Cleveland for almost 20 years. In the 2000s, he led a piano trio called Return of Simple that released an EP called Saffron, featuring his piano, vocals and songs, in 2006 and disbanded in 2011.
He’s stayed busy though, a veritable music-making machine He continued to perform as a solo artist and reunited Return of Simple for occasional gigs. His 88bit project creates piano arrangements of classic chiptune and Nintendo music. And he composes music for uses such as e-cards, movie soundtracks and games.
And on January 27, his latest project STRAYLIGHT will be available. It’s the soundtrack to a virtual reality game, which he scored and engineered. The album’s ten progressive synth tracks combine vintage and modern technologies.
“I’ve never written music like this before,” says Kovacs in a press release for the album. “And I probably wouldn’t have if it weren’t for this game. The team basically trusted me and gave me free rein to compose whatever I wanted. I used this opportunity to try new compositional ideas and techniques. I feel I’ve created something very unique and something that people will want to keep coming back to whether they play the game or not.”
The album is available on Emperia Records January 27; access it here. The game will be released on January 31.