Willow's Collections

These guys love a good adventure song, and have been playing video games since they were kids. So when they heard this sci-fi sea shanty from Warframe, they couldn't resist putting their own vocal spin on it. Get ready to set sail through the vastness of the cosmos, where no one can hear you scream and everyone dies eventually.

Details:

title: Sleeping in the Cold Below (feat. Omar Cardona)

original performers: Damhnait Doyle as Vala Glarios accompanied by The Ennis Sisters, Aarron Collis, & Alan Doyle for Warframe (Official Soundtrack II) (2023)

written by: music by Keith Power & Alan Doyle; lyrics by Keith Power, Alan Doyle, & Adrian Bott

arranged by: Rob Dietz & Geoff Castellucci

release date: 16 February 2024

My favorite bits:

the reverberation on Layne's opening beats, giving the sensation of a being in a cavernous space

the resonance in Geoff's timbre as he starts deep and moseys even further down toward ♫ "below" ♫

Omar adding more urgency with his higher tone, singing about always chasing the next job

Eli and Cesar's breathy staccato repetition of ♫ "Hell. to. pay" ♫

the guys' nifty colored contacts, particularly Cesar and Omar swapping one lens to give them the appearance of mirrored heterochromia

dropping into unison to emphasize the first ♫ "sisters" ♫

Cesar looking intensely into the camera as he sings ♫ "the devil in his eye" ♫

Eli's fantastic wail of ♫ "below" ♫

the angelic choir sound of the harmonies under Geoff singing about death and burial

Layne's pseudo-synth line (which reminds me of the turrets in the Portal games)

the power of Omar's descant ♫ "Going where the winds don't blow" ♫

the uneven descending canon of ♫ "sleeping in the cold" ♫

the breadth of sound they achieve at the end as Eli, Omar, and Cesar climb higher while Geoff descends and Layne saturates his percussion line with faster hits

ending on a stark white background that makes them look like video game models on a character selection screen

the behind the scenes footage in the outro (The rest of that studio space is wild.)

bonus points for all the cool animated space backgrounds

Trivia:

This video was filmed at a new location for the group — OptiView Entertainment studio in Longwood, FL, on a stage that has three walls and a floor made of giant LED screens.

Geoff took inspiration for their outfits from Japanese streetwear trends. Instead of picking specific costumes for each singer, he ordered a variety of jackets and accessories and let everyone pick whatever they liked. Some of the pieces didn't arrive in time for the shoot, though, so the guys saved them for their "Black Hole Sun" video a couple months later. Some of the accessories also reappeared in "We All Lift Together".

When they first teased the release on social media, their sartorial choices received some good-natured ribbing from their erstwhile baritone.

Although they stand fairly still in the video itself, the guys had a bit of a dance party in between takes.

Co-arranger Rob Dietz also contributed his voice to the mix for the "Huh!" shouts in the first two choruses.

There are a few minor continuity errors because Layne forgot to put his gloves back on after a break in filming. A fan joked in the YT comments that he had actually developed telekinesis, which led to some ribbing from both VoicePlay and PattyCake Productions. (The last assertion is funny, but demonstrably untrue. He's been on screen in several PattyCake projects. But he is often unrecognizable because of masks, heavy makeup, or visual effects.)

In the description on Patreon, they named their spaceship "the USS DekeSharon" in honor of their old friend, the illustrious singer, arranger, and producer of The Sing-Off.

Warframe was first released for PC in March 2013, and has undergone frequent content additions and platform ports in the years since. "Sleeping in the Cold Below" is featured in the "Call of the Tempestarii" quest added to the game in April 2021.

Within the game, there is also an instrumental arrangement of this song, called "Sevagoth's Lullaby" that appears during the "Whispers in the Walls" quest line.

Water tight doors! You get a special training video on interacting with these correctly because they will literally cut you in half if you try and go through them while they’re closing!

Freezer vaults for food in the sub decks - you can only get into these with the correct code and they have very thick walls. Good luck if you get shut in one of these just after the last round of checks bucko

There are cameras everywhere…except in the crew cabin corridors. Also there are no windows down there because unless you’re an officer, you live below the waterline. Day and night have no meaning because everything is in the same slightly unsettling yellow light.

Don’t piss off the guys who deal with the rubbish. They have machines down there that can crush metal barrels

As well as morgues, cruise ships usually have one basic operating theatre with all the attendant horrifying equipment in it

One cigarette thrown carelessly in the wrong place WILL start a fire that will gut half the ship.

When we’re pitching side to side, the anchor swings out and then back in, striking the metal outer shell with a noise that shakes half the ship

People disappear overboard more often than you’d really want to be a thing

A lot of cruise ships now have theatres on board (usually towards the front) with all the potential for dark corners, creepy costumes and electrical calamities you could want.

my mom is in fact aware that dandelions exist. she temporarily forgot the name and there was some miscommunication.

the truth is actually weirder

she’s aware dandelions look like this

she is familiar with this flower. she knows the name of this flower. she declines to believe, however, that these are also dandelions

she does not believe these are the same plant. I tried to explain, and she thought I was either misinformed or lying. so I asked her what exactly did she think the yellow ones were called?

gosh I enjoy this website