South Of Midnight’s Music Transforms Trauma Into A Soundtrack

Derivière and Fox are both European, but creative director David Sears is from the South, and the same goes for many of the musicians and vocalists featured in South of Midnight’s music. Derivière explains this point, saying Compulsion didn’t want him to “mimic” anything, but create something authentic in their fantasy world.

“We’ve worked with amazing musicians from Nashville, some Americans in Paris, [and] of course, London, for the orchestra,” Derivière said. “I would come with my version of the song… And this is where authenticity came in, because they’re from there, you know, either New Orleans, [or] Nashville, wherever. And they look at the charts, they look at the melody, and they’re like, ‘Alright!’ And they start playing, and boom! It’s culture. It’s art.”

He spoke a bit more about the culture involved, saying, “We are in a sort of blend of cultures–African cultures, European cultures. And this is the good part [about] this music. It created a cultural background for America, but it comes from everywhere.”

Fox mentioned that he even had a playlist of music from the Deep South for Derivière to listen to, but decided against sharing it to allow for more creativity.

“My job is to create an environment where he can be the most creative and have the most freedom to make something original that would stand out. So I didn’t give him that playlist because of that,” Fox explained. “But if you say, ‘I want something like this.’ You’re going to get a carbon copy of that thing. So, you know, Coke becomes like Coke Light. You have to be happy to possibly fail in the process–it’s a risk. But I thought, with Olivier, it was definitely worth taking that risk, and the chances of hitting gold were much, much higher.”

“I’ll say one other thing that was important, I think, is what a lot of people say–especially people from the Deep South–is that it really sounds like the Deep South,” Fox added. “I think that was really down to the sound recordings that were done/taken in the swamps, and in the different mountains of Tennessee and Kentucky. That sound design also really grounded everything, so that you could go a bit wild with the music and go somewhere different.”

That creativity Fox spoke of shines through with the use of childrens’ voices throughout the game, in both gameplay and the soundtrack. One of the most notable pieces of audio in South of Midnight plays when you use the Guiding Strand–a ghostly line that directs you to your next objective.

You hear a child’s voice whisper “Hazel” in the direction you need to go, and it happens every time you use that navigational tool. The game also features singing children in a lot of the music. They feel like supernatural entities that inform, motivate, guide, and fight alongside you on your journey.

“We didn’t want to call them spirits. We didn’t want to call them ghosts. We didn’t want to call them magic. We wanted [them] to be free of all these, sort of, clichés,” Derivière said. “It’s like an energy around you, you know–the strands. Using the kids was the key for the voices–the vocals. The key to, all of a sudden, make those strands real. And that was because you see some ghosts, of course… There is this connection. But this is through the strands. And the strands are the kids.”

Derivière often mentioned that the kids are “the stars of the show.” Explaining that they’re with you from beginning to end, no matter where you are or what you’re doing. Fox echoed this statement, going deeper into how the children–five girls from a Gospel church in Nashville–are used in the audio design.

The five girls recorded audio for a wide variety of gameplay moments, in addition to their singing for the soundtrack and musical roles. The audio team sampled giggling, whispers, yelling, and more.

“They were this amazing group of five girls from the local Gospel church. That’s why [Olivier] said [they’re the] stars of the show, to go back to that, because they really are everywhere,” Fox explained. “This is the genius of Olivier. When you come close to an object or space, there’s a value that gets more intense or less intense, to give you that feeling of you’re approaching something of power. So it’s really great. It was a great project to work with Olivier and see what could be done with voice.”

Music and songs with vocals are such large parts of South of Midnight, but it almost didn’t start out that way, according to Derivière.

“At the beginning of the project, we didn’t have any idea that there would be songs in the game–not at all,” Derivière said. “At some point, David Sears, the creative director, said, ‘I don’t want music.’ And that was like, oh, okay, so he’s talking to the composer right now, and he says, ‘I don’t want this.'”

“And so the more we’re discussing, the more it was like, ‘Okay, we need songs.’ Because, number one, it’s traditional from the South. You know, songs are very embedded into the culture there. But also, we wanted the songs to be part of the overall narrative. And so this is where David and the team, over there, the narrative team came with some lyrics.”

These conversations came during the year-long planning process that took place in the very early stages of development. Fox added a few more details about the team’s thought process during those times as well. He revealed that the songs were complete long before other aspects of the game.

At the beginning of the project, we didn’t have any idea that there would be songs in the game–not at all.

“Definitely a challenge because, for us, we wanted to create 2D art to inform 3D level art. We were like, ‘Could we make songs that could inform level music?’ Which is a bit of a novel way of thinking,” Fox explained. “For a long time, all we had was the songs, because we were waiting for the game to be finished enough that we could start integrating. [It] was really important to work with the narrative team. And the narrative team actually contributed to some of the lyrics, and David Sears also contributed to the lyrics.”

The idea of making songs that informed level music was implemented successfully through the unique way in which South of Midnight delivers its songs in pieces as you move through a level. As you learn more about a creature or character’s trauma, lyrics are added to an incomplete song a few lines at a time. Then, at the end of the level, you hear the full song for the first time, creating an impactful moment.

This happens several times throughout the game to explore different themes with several creatures or characters who are central to the plot. We get guilt with Benjy, anger with Two-Toed Tom, and so on. It’s incredible when the incomplete tunes build to eventually become the boss’s theme song at the end of a chapter. But it’s equally impressive that the songs aren’t too on the nose when it comes to transforming each character’s story into music.

“We didn’t want the song to be like, ‘The story was that, and it happened like this,’ you know? It was not like that,” Derivière said. “It was more like, okay, we want the song to be sort of abstract, but connected with what was going on.”

“We rearranged the songs so [that] it’s the kids singing when you’re in the level, and at the end, it’s the creature [or person],” Derivière explained. “So the kids singing is sort of a corrupted version–a weird version of the song. You have an idea, and it feels like it’s disturbing, because David is a very, let’s say, dark person [laughs]. You don’t want the song to be beautiful whatsoever in the levels, because the levels themselves are scary in some parts.

Fox adds to this explanation, saying, “I had this idea of–I don’t want to say dark and light–but corrupted and uncorrupted. And I was like, would it be really interesting, when [starting] the level, you were obscured from any understanding of the trauma of this zone or creature? But then, as you go through, and you do these narrative events, you would get a bit of a melody.”

Talking about these standout junctures in South of Midnight with Christopher Fox led to a discussion of what makes music memorable in games. I shared that, oftentimes, I don’t really notice a game soundtrack unless it’s attached to a notable event or evokes emotion.

“I know what you mean,” Fox said. “It’s like [the] Ashtray Maze in Control. And then you’ve got the balance. [If] it’s happening all the time, is it special anymore? So you know there’s [a reason] why those bits pop out in those Remedy games where they’re really memorable because it’s not all the time. But I think we somehow managed to make something that didn’t get tiresome, because it was always changing.”

South of Midnight’s musical formula didn’t get tiresome, in my eyes (and ears), because each big song is tied to a completely different form of hardship that comes from separate backstories. At a certain point, it was the mystery of what happened to the creature or character, mixed with what the music represents, that kept me wanting more.

“I think the [music] represented the trauma of each creature,” Fox said. “So each creature had something like ravenous guilt, loss. There were main themes that were established early for each creature. Hopefully, the [music] represents that.”

A few of my favorite tracks in South of Midnight were Huggin’ Molly, Rougarou, and Altamaha-Ha because of how they enhanced the stories behind those creatures. This is especially true of Altamaha-Ha, whose tale is about an enslaved woman who lost her child when escaping from captivity. The vocalist, Stacy Subero, sings it beautifully. Fox echoed similar sentiments.

“My favorite song is the Altamaha-Ha song because it’s just… I feel like quite a few people cry at the end of that one, which is an amazing feat for someone who’s involved with audio,” Fox said. “When we got that song in particular that Olivier wrote, and then [it] was performed by Stacey, the lead singer, and all the backup vocals… I never thought [that] in a video game I would get a song like that.”

Derivière praises the performances for both Rougarou and Altamaha-Ha. I asked about studio sessions, and he shared what it was like hearing Joey Richey for Rougarou and Stacy Subero for Altamaha-Ha.

“For instance, you’re talking Rougarou. You know, that was an amazing performance, because at some point, you know, he goes super loud like, ‘I break my bones!’ Oh, my God, and he didn’t have the orchestra yet,” Derivière said. “He didn’t know. It was just the piano. He was alone with the piano. And I was like, ‘You need to give it all because this is the moment.’

“It was the same with Altamaha-Ha with Stacey. I mean, my God, how amazing she was. And then we had the choir–the adults. They were amazing–super dark and warm. You can feel it when you listen to them, but it’s just happening in real time. And this is when you hope that the engineer didn’t forget to press record. You’re like, ‘Please, tell me you have the take!'”

Compulsion Games developed a soundtrack full of soulful performances and meaning that works perfectly for South of Midnight, but also extends beyond the confines of a single game. The music strengthens the game’s themes of loss, hardship, hope, and more, in combination with wonderfully creative audio design, to create a wholly fantastic listening experience that didn’t receive the recognition it deserved.

I hope that many, many more players get to experience South of Midnight’s auditory feast when it comes to PS5 and Switch 2 in Spring 2026.