The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O has written a song for upcoming video game Rise of the Tomb Raider.
The song, I Shall Rise, opens with a strong bass guitar, leading on to O’s beautiful, haunting voice carrying us through the rise of the atmospheric track.
She spoke to Rolling Stone about creating the track. “You know how Gloria Gaynor has her I Will Survive? I always wanted to do my version of that and this was it.”
She continued, explaining how the song unfolded. “I think they wanted to bring on the melodrama. They wanted something emotional with a dramatic build. It’s kind of the theme of Lara’s creation myth, the moment that defines her becoming an icon. It was really juicy stuff for me. I’m really into making melodramatic songs.”
Video games were a big part of O’s childhood. In the interview, she recalled getting emotional while watching her brother play and win. “Nowadays, the artistry of video games have come so far, it’s more like a film you can interact with,” she said.
The trailer for the game, which includes the song, has come out a month after O gave birth to her first child. This was brought up during the interview when discussing the future of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who are on hiatus.
“I’m in this massive transition where I just brought a life into the world. It’s redefined my concept of myself. I kind of got reduced to rubble in the process of it. I feel like I can relate to a heroine who is up against all kinds of physical and emotional adversity. I have this new perspective on women and motherhood,” she said.
She says the likelihood of the band’s reformation is small, but not impossible.
I Shall Rise is available now.
Watch the game’s epic trailer here. Lara Croft makes her return to your computer on November 10, 2015.