Video game phenomenon Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has made a music chart impact in the UK and beyond.
The Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 video game soundtrack by French composer Lorien Testard has debuted in the UK albums chart Top 20 and topped vinyl and independent albums rankings.
Released via specialist video game soundtrack label Laced Records, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 OST debuted at No.16 (5,322 units), according to the Official Charts Company. The album was released digitally last year and has consumption to date of 12,834 units (5,157 physical copies, 1,255 downloads, 6,423 sales-equivalent streams).
The consumption in the past week was driven by physical sales following the release of CD and vinyl editions, including a deluxe 6LP box set, an 8CD box set and the Monolith edition including a statuette, journal and premium case. The expansive versions feature all 154 songs spanning more than eight hours of music.
The less extensive editions helped the soundtrack to chart at No.1 in both the UK independent albums chart and the UK vinyl albums chart, as well as topping the soundtrack albums chart.
Internationally, the album is at No.2 on the main albums charts in Germany and France. It also charted at No.1 on the French physical music chart and the French vinyl albums chart.
The music in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 follows the story that the players will experience on their adventure within the game. French composer Lorien Testard spent five years working on the game’s soundtrack.
The hybrid mixture of lyrical orchestral pieces, prog-rock and ambient soundscapes also features vocalist Alice Duport-Percie, along with Ben Starr, Victor Borba and Axelle Verner.
Danny Kelleher, CEO at London-based Laced Records, said: “We remain completely bowled over by the response to the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 video game soundtrack, both in terms of digital streams and sales and physical units sold.
“While the Laced team worked tirelessly on this campaign, its success belongs to the incredibly talented co-composers Lorien Testard and Alice Duport-Percier, and the passionate game developers at Sandfall Interactive. Together they created a phenomenon for those who come after.”
As a label that has championed video game music for over 10 years, it’s very exciting for us to see music from a new game achieve this level of commercial success
Danny Kelleher
He added: “As a label that has championed video game music for over 10 years, it’s very exciting for us to see music from a new game achieve this level of commercial success and break into the mainstream music charts."
“Scoring Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was an incredibly fun process, as the game’s universe is so rich that it allowed me to engage my imagination and creativity every single day,” said Lorien Testard. “The music in the game was created to fully immerse the player in our world – to carry them away and invite them to resonate with the expedition and their journey.
Laced Records works with dozens of video game companies and has released soundtracks for Metal Gear Solid, Hitman, Halo, The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and many more
Laced’s other service offerings include music composition, licensing, sound design, implementation, and music publishing administration for games and other visual media.
PHOTO: Lorien Testard and Alice Duport-Percier (credit: Antoine Billet)
FOLLOW 
