Today marks the twentieth anniversary of Poets of the Fall's debut album, Signs of Life!
The collection was released two years after their single Late Goodbye was first heard in Max Payne 2. Though made with the game in mind, the track was one of two singles teased ahead of time to an already eager community. The other being their iconic song, Lift.
Following the release of Signs of Life, recognition for their work began to roll in. Launching at number one in the charts, the album was certified platinum the following April (2006) and remaining in the Top 40 chart for over a year. They also collected the Best Debut Album of the Year at the Emma Gala 2006, providing a solid fanbase to launch their next album.
To celebrate the milestone, Poets of the Fall has shared a series of new behind-the-scenes photographs from their first session together...
Their brilliant keyboardist and producer, Captain, has also written his own memories on the platform detailing those first sessions...
A bit of information about Poets of the Fall: Although two of the band members were involved in Remedy's original Max Payne title, officially, the band's relationship started back in 2003 with Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. For the game, Poets created their first song, Late Goodbye, based on a poem by Sam Lake, after a conversation between Marko and Sam about the formation of his new group.
Almost a decade later, the band returned for the studio's next game, Alan Wake, creating the custom songs, The Poet and the Muse and Children of the Elder God, under their alter-ego, Old Gods of Asgard. Their song War, from their album Twilight Theater, also made an appearance in the game. They returned again two years later for Alan Wake's American Nightmare, with the songs Balance Slays the Demon and The Happy Song (the latter also appearing in the album Temple of Thought). Around the same time, Can You Hear Me, created as an exclusive single to their Alchemy Vol 1 collection, also appeared in the studio's debut mobile game, Death Rally.
After Alan Wake, while they still worked alongside the studio, issues outside of both parties' control led to the absence of a unique track within Quantum Break. Although players can still hear elements in the reworked version of The Labyrinth, heard in the Clearview album. It was only in 2019's Control that the band and studio were able to work once again, bringing Take Control to the table, used during the Control's memorable Ashtray Maze sequence, along with Ultraviolet's The Dark Disquiet making an appearance.
For Alan Wake 2, they returned with three unique songs custom-made for the adventures; Dark Ocean Summoning, Herald of Darkness, and Anger's Remorse. A few weeks after the launch of the game, the Old Gods of Asgard debut album, Rebirth - Greatest Hits is being released, nicely coinciding with their performance on The Game Awards stage.
