Song of the Day: Alicia ( by Louis Testard feat. Alice Duport-Percier)


“Alicia” from the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 soundtrack hits with this quiet emotional force that sneaks up on you. Louis Testard’s composition feels intimate, almost fragile at first, built around a slow progression that flows between melancholy and solace. When Alice Duport‑Percier’s voice comes in, it feels less like a vocal performance and more like a memory being sung—gentle, human, and full of warmth that complements the game’s painterly atmosphere. The track doesn’t tell you what to feel; it just leaves space for you to find your own emotions in it.

What stands out most to me is how balanced it feels—Testard’s score never overwhelms. Every instrument breathes, giving Duport‑Percier’s voice that clear space to bloom. The music grows patiently, moving from soft contemplation toward a kind of quiet hope, like someone lifting their eyes after a long, heavy silence. It’s the kind of composition where you can feel each breath behind the notes, and that subtle pacing mirrors the emotional rhythm of Clair Obscur beautifully.

By the time the last notes fade, “Alicia” leaves this lingering ache that’s hard to shake. It feels deeply personal—the kind of track that stays in your chest long after it ends. Testard and Duport‑Percier manage to craft something that transcends simple “game music”; it’s closer to a conversation between sorrow and serenity. It’s not just background—it’s the emotional pulse of the adventure itself.

Music Video of the Day: Any Way You Want It by Journey (1980, directed by ????)


To me, there is no better way to close out the year than with this classic song from Journey!  Have a happy and safe New Year’s Eve!

Ever since I first saw Caddyshack (not to mention the episode of The Simpsons were Rodney Dangerfield played Mr. Burns’ son), Any Way You Want It has always been my favorite Journey song.  The video is also Journey at its best, simple, without pretension, and rocking!

Music Video of the Day: Always On My Mind, performed by Pet Shop Boys (1988, directed by Jack Bond)


In 1987, ITV commemorated the 10-year anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley by airing Love Me Tender, a special that featured popular British acts covering songs that were originally made famous by Elvis.  Pet Shop Boys’s synth-pop version of Always on My Mind proved to be the unexpected hit of the program and the band released the song as a single.  It went on to become the UK’s Christmas number one single for the year.

It was also featured in It Couldn’t Happen Here, a surreal film that starred Pet Shop Boys and which was directed by documentarian Jack Bond, who had started his career with a ground-breaking film about Salvador Dali and who later became famous for his work with The South Bank Show.  The subsequent music video was lifted from the film.  In the movie and the video, Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant are driving a taxi cab.  They stop to pick up a passenger, an older man played by Joss Ackland.  (In the movie, there’s an earlier scene in which Lowe and Tennant hear a news report about an escaped killed who matches their new passenger’s description.)  While their passenger rambles on, Lowe and Tennant turn on the radio and listen to the song, which leads to several other clips from the film.  And while the critics may not have cared much for It Couldn’t Happen Here, the band’s version of Always On My Mind remains a popular classic.

Enjoy!

Song of the Day: We Are One By Lydia


When the infamous epic Caligula was first released back in 1979, a disco version of Caligula’s love theme — We Are One — was also released as a promotional gimmick.

This song is so over-the-top, so blatantly exploitive, so insidiously catchy, and so totally inappropriate for so many reasons that become clear after you watch the film it was written for that it simply cannot be ignored.  To me, this song represents everything that makes the Grindhouse great.

(As well, I hope whoever was playing bass got paid extra…)