The streets were saying it was the album of the summer. In certain crowds, on Instagram stories and in DJ sets downtown, Cece Natalie’s debut album Miss Behaves was the “iykyk” summer soundtrack for pop heads and SoundCloud deep divers alike.

At least for me, the album was a goldmine for the kind of mid-2000s random pop sound that I live for. Natalie’s music has the Y2K girly flair of Heidi Montag and Brooke Hogan records, with the slight manic episode-esque tinge of Farrah Abraham’s My Teenage Dream Ended. Throw in her R&B vocal inflection that garners visions of Christina Milian or Jhene Aiko, and you have a record that is wholly unique and firm in its standing as a bubbling under masterpiece.

But really, there isn’t much out there about the artist known as Cece. Real name Mia, the 19-year-old lives in Connecticut in a studio apartment with her mom. She puts up a divider covered with a blanket to produce her music, and she records her vocals in her mom’s Kia. She worked at a trampoline park, and then in a food court, before dropping Miss Behaves in late July. “That was the best decision ever,” she tells PAPER.

Since then, Natalie has built up a cult following that is only growing bigger and bigger. Inspired by Drain Gang artists like Bladee, she initially got her start in the hyperpop online communities around the pandemic. “I knew I wanted to be one of them, so I kind of capitalized off my appearance,” she says. “I befriended them, and I got some of them a little bit attached to me. They were like my little maids.”

This initial music was made under a different alias, which she is weary to disclose. The Cece Natalie persona, she says, was born in 2022. Visually, it’s a mix of early Myspace E-girl selfies and grainy Photobooth edits with a sonic blend that alludes to the 2010’s era of heavy bass EDM pop — “Carnival music,” as she describes it herself.

Having just dropped another collection of leftover tracks, Recycling Bin Collection 2, it’s clear that the Cece Natalie reign could be incoming. Below, we sit down with the artist for a first-ever interview where she gets deep into her music making process, swimming while high in front of hot lifeguards and competing with past versions of herself.

How are you?

My cat is sneezing, sorry. I’ve been really restless today, but other than that, pretty good. It’s been up and down. I’ve been more social lately. How are you?

I’m good, I’m home in Texas right now.

I’ve never been to Texas. I’ve never been off the East Coast, actually. Well, that’s not true. I’ve been to Minnesota, but other than that it’s only been East Coast states.

How old are you?

I’m 19.

Well, your music is popping off and I’m sure you’ll be touring the country sooner rather than later.

People always tell me that. “Oh, you’re gonna be famous,” but I just don’t see it. I saw it in my visions when I was four, but I don’t see it now. I mean, that’s awesome, but I don’t see it.

What were those visions when you were four?

I’ve been making songs in my head since I could literally think. When did I first start thinking? Probably like three or four [years old], when you start learning what the world is. I did what other kids do, where one minute they’re like, “I wanna be this, I wanna be that.” I did that, too, but most of the time I would envision myself being a singer. I felt famous in my head as a kid, but that kind of wore off.

I feel like that’s every kid. Every kid wants to be a pop star, right?

Kind of? I don’t know. At least from what I remember, all my friends just said that they wanna be a mom or a dad. We would play house, and they would try to make me be the mom and I would throw shit at them. But I don’t remember what my peers said about what they wanted to be when they grow up. All I remember is the mom thing.

I think I found your music when my friend DeSe Escobar posted you.

Oh, DeSe!

Shoutout DeSe.

I think she is the reason for everything that has happened in the last two months, basically. Month and a half. I said in my song, “I’m the queen of the city, hoe,” but she is the queen of the city, hoe. She found my music somehow. I don’t know how. But she always plays it a lot in her DJ sets and stuff, and it put other people on. It kind of spread like Cece COVID. All over the city.

She’s the queen of Downtown New York.

Yes. So I’m really grateful. I DJ’d for her birthday opening at a sushi bar, and that was so amazing. I got to meet her. That was fun, and I’m really thankful.

I feel like you’re sort of this enigma right now.

Really?

Can you tell me about yourself? Who you are, where you came from, etc.

I used to kind of overshare. I think it was because I was lonely. Not too much. I wasn’t vlogging my life, but I would just post a lot of random shit. But looking back, it wasn’t really personal. I remember in the middle of the summer, someone left an Oreo ice cream cake sitting in their car next to me, and I thought it was funny. So I posted this whole paragraph about how I thought it was the funniest thing. I would post a lot of little bits of my life. But looking back, it wasn’t really that personal. So I kind of get it now.

Your debut album Miss Behaves came out in July. How long had you been working on it, and how did you get into making music in the first place?

I actually started four years ago. How did I get into it? In 2019 and 2020, I was a big Drain Gang fan. I was a little Bladee teenager fan. I was very into Bladee. Similar to that was the hyper pop digicore community back in 2020. It was really different. It was a little bit inspired by that back then. So I got into that scene just off of SoundCloud recommendations, literally. I was always making songs in my head and knew that I wanted to do it, but I didn’t really think that I could. So I never thought of actually going and doing it.

But I got into that scene and met a lot of those artists. And this is so embarrassing now, but I wanted to get into the scene and I knew I wanted to be one of them so I kind of capitalized off my appearance. I befriended them, but I got some of them a little bit attached to me. So when I made my first song on GarageBand on my phone, it was on a Bladee type beat. It wasn’t great at all, but they all reposted it. They were like my little maids. But I went under a different alias. I was kind of just making what was being made in the scene, but I didn’t really connect to it. It was just what was accessible to make.

So that was 2020?

Yeah. So then I took a really long break because I wasn’t great at producing, and I couldn’t get the type of beats that I wanted anywhere. So I didn’t know what to do. I kind of stopped for a while. I didn’t know how to use FL Studio back then. So from 2021 to 2022, a whole bunch happened completely unrelated to music. Then in mid 2022, I decided to change my name on Soundcloud. That was when Cece was born. I spent a year just listening to music and getting inspired, not really forcing myself to make it. By then, I had so many ideas. I had this grand idea in my head. That’s when Cece was created in my head as a different persona, just as this kind of armor for Mia underneath.

I made my first Cece song called “I wanna be the star.” As a concept, it was really good. So… yeah sorry, I think there are like parasites in my brain. I really do. I hear them talk to me, it’s crazy. Okay, so Cece makes the one song, and then it’s lights out again until November [2022]. I had no social life at all back then. I saw this post of my peers at this Halloween party, and I was just like, “Fuck it, I wanna go to the party, so I’m gonna pretend to go there.” I thought, If I was at the party, what would it be like? So I had this grand vision and then I just ended up making a song about it kind of pretending that I was there. That was “Fashion Baby,” which is still up. That was the next Cece song.

Then it was lights out again until October 2023. A lot of stuff happened. My life kind of got fucked up, flippy flopped upside down. So I was kind of like, fuck it, I’m just gonna put everything into music. It’s gonna be my soul. Then I made “Miracle,” which was my comeback. I made that in the span of two days, and it dropped on Halloween. When I think of that song, I just picture Cece rising from the dead, coming out of the ocean like a statue. Ever since then, I’ve been me.

Do you produce everything yourself?

Yeah, unless I say otherwise. There are a couple songs that I co-produced. And there are one or two that I didn’t produce. But most of the time I just do everything from scratch because with music I’m a little bit of a control freak.

Well, that’s amazing. The beats and lyrics are so good. Your music reminds me of those days of Heidi Montag and Brooke Hogan or something, like random pop girls from the early 2000s. But very futuristic, as well.

It’s really interesting hearing how you describe it because I never really know what other people hear. I don’t know other people’s perspectives on it. I think those 2000’s artists were definitely my influence in the early days of Cece. Back then, it wasn’t really as popular of an aesthetic. It wasn’t unheard of as an aesthetic in the modern day, but it wasn’t as common as it is now. That was when I was, like, 17. When you’re 17, you just wanna be different. So when something gets popular, I would just be like, Oh my God something is getting popular so I can’t like it anymore. Which looking back is ridiculous. It’s dumb, but that’s what you think when you’re 17.

Yeah.

So that sound was an influence, but it wasn’t the only influence. I still like that sound, but I kind of tried to stop making that very 2000’s clubby pop sound when I started Priscilla 1234, my side project/alter ego/spam account. I started making different things. I’d make house, rock songs, just branching out. This was early 2023. Until Cece came back. I think that was a good thing. So then I started planning the return of Cece, but I kind of wanted to make a statement, which is what I did with “Miracle.” I was planning it out, and I was like, Who cares if something is popular? I can just make my own version of that sound. So I went swimming that night. I saw a hot lifeguard at my pool. I used to go swimming high all the time. It’s kind of therapeutic.

Swimming in general is so therapeutic.

I went swimming high, and I kind of get a lot of song ideas when I’m high. Most of them come when I’m high. I sound like such a loser stoner, but who cares. So I envisioned the song in my head. The songs just make themselves. There are some where I do take the ideas that my brain spits out and I edit them, but really the songs just make themselves. So the song is just playing in my head and I’m swimming around. Then I went home, and the next day I made the beat. I recorded the song in my mom’s Kia. We live in a studio. So she comes home from work at 6 PM. And I wanted to record. My car was parked all the way up the hill, so I was like, “Can I record in your car?” So I made the song.

Tell me about the process of making Miss Behaves.

I realized how much I just went on a tangent. I’m gonna try to not do that. I’m just chatty. So I wasn’t planning on making an album. I started Miss Behaves in September 2023 with “Gymnastics” and then “Like a Taxi” in November. I think it was in February of this year that I decided that I’m gonna commit to this. I’m gonna make an album. But my ideas were totally different at first. It was supposed to be more dancey and house-y. I wanted it to be house R&B, more like the songs on Priscilla. Those were my early ideas, but my vision changed so much. I’m like time traveling right now.

Do you make it all alone? You said you’re not that social. Is it just you in your room making music?

I don’t even have a room. That’s my wall. That’s my divider that’s covered with a blanket. Those are my minion pajama pants. But yeah, with my mom’s old job I had free time from 8 AM to 6 PM. Morning to sunset. I would work on the weekends.

Where did you work?

I worked at this indoor trampoline park. I quit because the job was draining the life out of me. If I didn’t quit, I wouldn’t be here doing this. I didn’t have the energy to talk to anybody. I couldn’t even talk to my own friends. I couldn’t reach out to anybody. People would reach out to me, and I just couldn’t even talk to anyone. I was so drained. I have sensory issues, and I don’t like kids.

Me neither. And trampoline parks are all screaming kids, right?

Yeah, and they have crazy lights everywhere. I couldn’t even imagine going there off a shroom. And I didn’t get breaks. I worked at the food court. We were understaffed at the food court. I was the register girl, but I had to do a bunch of others things, too, besides cooking. I didn’t do that. So draining. So many things about that place were horrible, so I quit a month ago and life honestly got exponentially better ever since the day I left. I’m trying to think about how I can summarize how I made Miss Behaves.

So I went on this mental journey of getting back to who I was. I start getting into more fun, dancey moods. I made “Ambulance,” which is basically about me coming back to myself. I made “I get mad” before that. I made that song in February or March when I was in the dark winter darkness, you know? That cloud of sad, horrible.

In Connecticut, the winters are probably bad, right?

Oh yeah. There’s also nothing to do here. So slowly towards the summer I started getting into the more fun mood. The energy in my life was changing from this deep, dark sadness to this fun vibe. This summer was amazing. The best summer I’ve ever had. Most fun, interesting summer. The whole energy was just changing, changing, changing. “Exitin,” “Limit,” “Romeo,” and “Lovely” were all made toward the summer when the weather started getting warmer. More sunlight. I was in a much better place. I think that’s why I like them so much more than the ones that I made earlier in the year.

So the album slowly started coming together. I didn’t wanna be too harsh on myself because I was overthinking it at first. I wanted to drop it, but to me a lot of the songs still weren’t done. I was listening to “Limit” one day, and I was like, Yeah this is the shit. It’s so good. I was like, If I’m feeling confident in this one moment right now, I’m gonna make the decision tomorrow to randomly drop it. I don’t care if it’s unfinished to me. People aren’t gonna know that. So the next day, I was running on the treadmill then I started walking on the treadmill. So I was playing on my phone. And I decided to drop the album. I was like, Yeah, I feel fun right now. Let me drop this shit. And that was the best decision ever. There’s Mia, and then there’s Wisdom Mia. And I was like, Wisdom Mia, tell me what to do. Sorry, I got lost in my head. When I think about the process of making music, I just get all these memories of what it was like because it was like an adventure to me. That’s why it means so much to me.

Your aesthetic is very Myspace girl, or this sort of lo-fi early internet vibes. Photobooth type shit. What inspires your aesthetic?

That’s hard to describe. Well, you are right when it comes to the 2010’s. Pictures from the 2010’s are at the base of it. I love the 2010’s, even for music. It’s a big inspo. Anything with that 2010’s feel.

Same. That was my favorite era. Kids nowadays don’t have that. Pop was so good then.

They always say, “Every generation says that, blah blah.” But I don’t know, even if you look at it objectively, it’s still true. The 2010’s were just better. I understand now that I have these visions in my head when I listen to my songs and when I think about songs that I wanna make. They’re kind of like music videos in my head. A lot of the times, it’s very fantasy, in another world. When I take pictures, it’s my attempt at emulating that in the complete opposite circumstances. I’m all alone, and I only have my phone camera. So I’m like, what would my attempt at executing this grand vision in my head look like with no means of doing so?

What are your plans for the upcoming months? Are you working on new music?

I have started working on my second album, but I want to devote a lot more time to it. You know, I haven’t blown up or anything. I think I blew up on the most miniature scale that’s physically possible. I think that happened. But even with that, I feel this kind of anxiety about being in front of an audience and wanting to please everyone. I don’t wanna be a people pleaser, so I need to snap out of it. But I do want it to be good. I want it to be better than Miss Behaves. I’m very competitive with myself. I feel like I’m competing with past versions of me.

You said you were struggling with if the songs were finished or not, but as a listener, I love that “unfinished” sound. I feel like after their first album, a lot of new artists get lost with trying to make it perfect, but I want artists to just drop things and not overthink it. I feel like people are attracted to that sound and that energy, anyway.

Thank you. That actually makes me feel so much better. I’m an overthinker. I overthink everything. I’m even trying to let go right now. But thank you, that will stay in my mind. Because you’re right. Especially since 2020, this super clean, crispy mix and these crazy over-produced reverb tunnels of wind with crispy, fried vocals — I hate that. It sounds like shit. I think subconsciously, I was like, I need to have the best mix possible, just because of that general feeling of needing to be perfect. But really, that overproduced sound is terrible.

I saw that the rapper Ian follows you, which is a pretty nice co-sign. What’s the craziest follow or DM moment you’ve had so far?

So with Ian, I don’t really know him that well, but we became mutuals before he blew up. This was when he had a different username. This was December 2023. I was supposed to perform at this one underground rap thing, even though I’m not a rapper. They still invited me. But my set got messed up. I guess there was something with the venue that got fucked up. It wasn’t anybody’s fault, but I got to do a two minute thing. That was fun. But I met him from that. It was from the group chat at the thing. But I think it still counts as a co-sign because he is talented. He is a good artist, even though back then he wasn’t a big artist.

You mentioned loving Bladee. Who are your other top three artists that had a huge impact on you?

I’m trying to think because I know we only have a couple minutes left. I pull inspiration from everywhere. It’s hard to remember what I listened to growing up because I do block out most of my past. But definitely, the 2010’s was the main inspo behind Miss Behaves. A lot of the bass sound, especially on “757,” that heavy bass sound EDM pop that was on the radio. Like carnival music.

Carnival music?

Yeah, that’s actually how I would describe most of Miss Behaves. Like, the music that plays at a carnival when you’re having fun. Even with “Like a taxi” or “Exitin,” it’s like carnival music. So it’s inspired by the 2010’s, but it’s hard to remember my exact inspos because it’s so random. My brain just generates this shit.

Maybe it’s better that you don’t compare yourself to anyone. You’re your own thing.

I do know one thing, though. The reason I layer my vocals like crazy sometimes is because throughout middle school, I only listened to Lil Peep all day every day. I think his music still holds up to this day. I don’t listen to him as much anymore, but he’s always gonna be good. I love that layering.

Well thank you so much for talking to me.

Thank you. I’m sorry I was so chatty.

No, it was all good.

I’m trying to be more of a listener. I have ADHD and I took my meds too early. They wore off. Yeah, that explains a lot of my behavior.

Photos courtesy of Cece Natalie

With many still confused by Xbox’s seemingly contradictory gaming plans, a new report attempts to clear everything up.

Despite having a lot of hotly demanded exclusives coming to the Xbox platform, like next year’s Fable reboot and Gears Of War: E-Day, for most of this year fans have been reckoning with the possibility of Microsoft going third party.

Ever since it decided to port several key exclusives to PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, the past year has seen Microsoft open itself up to releasing more and more of its first party games on rival platforms.

Recently, it was claimed that Xbox exclusives will eventually stop being a thing entirely, once Microsoft gets its various developers used to the concept. Now, comments by Microsoft’s CEO only seem to embolden that line of thinking, with the company also said to be interested in some kind of cross-platform interface.

First things first, during Microsoft’s latest shareholders meeting, CEO Satya Nadella was pressed on the progress of the company’s current gaming strategy. For his part, Nadella sounded extremely optimistic about how things are working out.

‘We chose the secular growth category in entertainment, which we think is gaming, and said, let’s double down on it, let’s – and it’s been a passion for Microsoft ever since,’ said Nadella.

‘And so we said, let’s take that joy of gaming everywhere. And that’s why even these ads with Xbox now, where we are redefining what it means to be an Xbox fan, it’s about being able to enjoy Xbox on all your devices.’

There has been some confusion among audiences about what this strategy means for the future of Xbox hardware. Putting Xbox games on other platforms and devices means people will be less inclined to invest in an Xbox console and yet Microsoft has plans to keep making new hardware, including a handheld device.

On top of that, a new report by Windows Central’s Jez Corden claims Microsoft has plans for something called Project Rainway, which Corden describes as a ‘cross-platform Xbox guide menu.’

Exact details are slim, but it’s apparently inspired by the cross-platform social features seen in games available through Activision Blizzard’s Battle.net launcher.

Corden theorises this is a sign Microsoft wants to make it easier for players to access their games regardless of what platform they’re using. So, features like cloud saves and cross-progression would become commonplace across Microsoft’s titles.

Despite all this, Corden’s report argues this doesn’t mark the death knell of Xbox hardware. While the decision to port the likes of Sea Of Thieves and Hi-Fi Rush was met with some outrage from the most devoted of Xbox users, Corden claims this had little, if any impact on Xbox user figures.

As such, Microsoft sees this is as proof that Xbox users are comfortable where they are and are unlikely to ditch the platform even if new Xbox games release elsewhere. Apparently, this is also why Microsoft announced The Outer Worlds 2 for PlayStation 5 as well as Xbox Series X/S at The Game Awards 2024.

Although the idea that anyone, outside of performative influencers, would instantly throw away their Xbox console just because some of its games appeared on rival formats always seemed unlikely.

Corden also brings up Xbox boss Phil Spencer’s own claim that Xbox ‘console users’ are higher than they’ve ever been before (something he said in an IGN interview back in June).

It’s unclear what this means though, as the Xbox Series X/S has sold less than both the Xbox One and Xbox 360. So either he’s combining the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S userbases or counting everyone, on every format, that plays a Microsoft published game – which now includes the likes of Call Of Duty and Diablo.

He argues the Xbox ports of Genshin Impact and Death Stranding prove there are revenue streams worth chasing on Xbox hardware, and adds that he’s heard talk of more PlayStation exclusives following suit.

Although he’s obviously referring to further third party examples and not any of Sony’s first party titles (with the possible exception of a rumoured port of Lego Horizon Adventures – which seems to have been a flop on PlayStation 5 and Switch).

Corden also reiterates past claims that even major Xbox franchises like Halo and Gears Of War may go multiplatform (something Xbox boss Phil Spencer also implied), though he does suggest some outliers might remain exclusive for one reason or another.

This seems at odds, though, with the way Microsoft is approaching things nowadays. If it can be willing to put something like Halo on PlayStation, why keep anything locked to the Xbox platform?

The takeaway from all this seems to be that Microsoft recognises it can’t rely on hardware exclusives if it wants to thrive and grow within the gaming sphere. But its core Xbox user base is still substantial, thus justifying continued investment in developing dedicated Xbox hardware.

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter.

To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.

For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.

MORE: Xbox promise ‘largest technical leap’ for next gen console as it confirms handheld

MORE: If Xbox doesn’t care about its console business why should I? – Reader’s Feature

MORE: Microsoft goes down with hundreds reporting problems with Teams and Outlook

Assassin’s Creed may be Ubisoft’s priority at the moment but a new leak suggests they’re revaluating the Far Cry series, before the next game.

2024 has not been kind to Ubisoft. The company’s share prices has been dropping all year, Stars Wars Outlaws wasn’t as big a hit as Ubisoft wanted, and it’s already decided to pull the plug on XDefiant – just seven months after it came out.

As such, there are serious discussions of selling the company to Tencent, while in the meantime Ubisoft seems to be putting all its eggs in the Assassin’s Creed basket. After a delay, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is out in February and it’s claimed Ubisoft intends to release 10 more Assassin’s Creed games in the next five years.

While all that’s going on, it sounds like Ubisoft is revaluating its next two Far Cry games, with a new report mentioning changes to the series formula and an internal delay.

What are the next Far Cry games?

As a reminder, Ubisoft is said to be working on two separate Far Cry projects. The first is a typical sequel, Far Cry 7 (or Blackbird as it’s codenamed), while the second is a multiplayer extraction shooter spin-off codenamed Maverick.

According to Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson, both games were aiming for a 2025 launch, but his latest report on the subject claims plans have changed and they’ve been pushed back into 2026.

From the sound of it, this is due to the complexities of both games’ development, with Henderson adding that Ubisoft is looking to break away from the Far Cry formula.

This can be seen in both games’ premises. Maverick is set to be the Far Cry series’ first dedicated multiplayer game, with its gameplay loop incorporating survival elements as players battle not just each other but the wilderness and harsh weather.

As for Far Cry 7, its plot apparently involves a 24 hour in-game time limit to save your kidnapped family, with the non-linear story changing depending on which family members you rescue. If accurate, this would be a radical departure from the likes of Far Cry 5 and Far Cry 6.

That’s not all, though. Far Cry’s movement systems are also said to be seeing a major overhaul in both projects, with techniques like tactical sprinting, sliding, and vaulting being introduced. In addition, Far Cry 7 will make use of Maverick’s inventory and looting systems due to both games originally being one singular project.

After the release of Far Cry 6, Ubisoft claimed the series had its best year ever in a May 2022 fiscal report. Their actions since though have implied it was a financial disappointment, with so far no official confirmation that Far Cry 7 exists.

Although Maverick hasn’t been described as a live service game, Ubisoft’s continued interest in that space means it wouldn’t be surprising if it was.

Henderson’s report, however, suggests there’s dwindling faith in the project, especially in the wake of XDefiant’s shutdown and subsequent layoffs.

XDefiant was clearly made to capitalise on the live service games trend and it’s easy to assume Maverick is the result of Ubisoft doing the same with the extraction shooter trend popularised by the likes of Escape From Tarkov.

Ubisoft has tried this once already with 2022’s Rainbow Six Extraction, which was a solid game but failed to find a consistent audience, as Ubisoft stopped supporting it less than a year after it came out.

It’s too early to tell how either Far Cry game will perform, but the last few years of gaming make it difficult to be optimistic about Maverick’s chances if there’s already a lack of faith in it internally.

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter.

To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.

For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.

MORE: Ubisoft is releasing a new Watch Dogs game but it won’t be on consoles

MORE: New Rayman game and return of Michel Ancel confirmed by Ubisoft

MORE: Live service games are destroying gaming and publishers’ minds – Reader’s Feature

After its absence at The Game Awards 2024, the latest Nintendo Switch 2 rumours claim its reveal could be mere weeks away.

Rumours about Nintendo’s next console have been around since long before the company formally admitted it exists but after months and years of uncertainty an official reveal finally feels like it’s just around the corner.

As well as a flurry of accessory leaks, many of which appear to give away the console’s appearance, one source has claimed to have already got their hands on the Switch 2 and is promising to share proof on Christmas Day.

Here are the latest claims.

When could the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal date be?

With a proper reveal unlikely to happen before the end of the year, new rumours claim Nintendo will finally show the console off in early January.

The first rumour comes from GamesIndustry.biz’s Chris Dring, who suggests a Switch 2 reveal could take place as early as the start of the new year. Although he is keen to stress that that’s not from a direct source.

‘It’s just chatter from other people they think, I’m told, it may even be right when the new year starts,’ says Dring on the latest episode of The GamesIndustry.biz Microcast (you can hear his comments from the 12:30 mark).

Dring’s not the only one though. Elsewhere, NintenTalk, a Twitch streamer specialising in Nintendo coverage, also believes a Switch 2 reveal is slated for January.

He claims to have heard this from a contact of his at a ‘major third party developer,’ who added, ‘Get ready to play modern AAA offerings on your Nintendo system in 2025.’

Another Nintendo content creator, NintendoPrime, then chimed in to say he’s heard the same thing, while Samus Hunter (the same person who leaked the Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition announcement) claims Nintendo may wind up pushing the Switch 2 reveal forward due to all the accessory leaks.

Samus Hunter also theorises such a reveal could take place before the release of the Donkey Kong Country Returns remaster, which is slated for January 16.

A Switch 2 reveal would certainly be an exciting way to kick off 2025 and it would make sense for Nintendo get ahead of the curve with official details, if these accessory leaks keep happening. This also lines up with a previous rumour from November, that also suggested a January reveal.

Whether it takes place in the first or second half of January, that month is a logical choice for the unveiling. After all, Nintendo has already said the Switch 2 will be shown by April 2025, meaning it only has a few months left to do so.

Not to mention other sources have claimed the Switch 2 will launch in either March or April. If that’s the case, Nintendo will want at least a couple of months to drum up excitement.

This is Nintendo we’re talking about, though, and the company could very easily delay its plans should it feel like it. In fact, it reportedly delayed the Switch 2’s release once already to ensure it would have a stronger line-up of launch games.

There’s also uncertainty around threatened US tariffs for foreign-made goods, once Donald Trump begins his presidency. That’s something Nintendo will have no control over and could significantly impact their launch plans.

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter.

To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.

For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.

MORE: Nintendo Switch 2 console mock-up video shows exactly how big it is

MORE: Nintendo should make a more expensive Switch 2 that isn’t portable – Reader’s Feature

MORE: Nintendo Switch 2 will be the last console and I fear what comes after – Reader’s Feature

The Tuesday letters page is still confused about the Xbox multiformat policy, as a reader imagines what gaming will be like in five years.

To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

PLEASE NOTE: We are currently preparing our content for over the Christmas period and will need a number of Reader’s Features, so if you’ve been meaning to write one but never quite got round to it we could do with as many as possible before Monday, December 23.

Second impressions
I’ve had a few days to contemplate it now and I’m not sure The Games Awards was actually as good as it first seemed. It’s not the fault of the event, which I thought was the most enjoyable to watch that it’s been, but just that all the announcements were kind of underwhelming.

The Witcher 4 was probably the biggest deal but that just underlined that it won’t be out for many years. Naughty Dog’s game was technically big news but it wasn’t a very exciting trailer. More Elden Ring is always welcome, but I agree with the reader yesterday that it was probably just repurposed DLC.

Things like Onimusha and Ōkami 2 are all well and good but they’re years away too. There was really very little that’s coming out soon or will solve the problem of so few big name games are coming out next year. The lack of GTA 6 and the Switch 2 really hurt it, especially as no new GTA 6 trailer means a delay is now possible. I’m not sure I’d rule one out for the Switch 2 either.

Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo all need to have their own showcases pronto next year. The Game Awards has done what it can, but it’s not enough.
Titus

Just talk
More than ever I just don’t understand why Microsoft isn’t clear about what it’s planning to do with multiformat games. I heard it explained that the reason it seems so random at the moment is that some studios are better set up for making multiformat games than others, and so Microsoft are just letting it happen organically, before they make it mandatory in the future.

That’s okay, if that’s true I get it and that sounds perfectly reasonable. So if that’s the case why not just tell us, rather than leave it to some self-important insider that may or may not be right?

It’s the same problem with Sony: a total lack of communication that makes them seem either aloof or incompetent, and usually both. Why cannot they see this, is what I have to wonder. What’s wrong with having a State of Play, or whatever Xbox calls theirs, and just explaining what they’re doing, instead of this endless speculation, which surely they must see is doing them more harm than good.
Gorf

Good timing
Enjoyed Lagger’s Reader’s Feature at the weekend, where he said he will only play shorter games due to not having the time for anything where the main story will take longer than 10 hours. I’m in a pretty similar situation, and whilst I do enjoy a longer game, these are few and far between. For example, I played Zelda: Breath Of The Wild during lockdown, Final Fantasy 7 Remake two years ago in that blissful period between jobs, and Rebirth earlier this year when I was lucky enough to get that time again. Not sure when I’ll be able to play the finale (surely, given its themes, to be called Reunion?) – it’s not like I can plan my career around game releases!

There’s been loads of games out in the last few years that I’ll never get round to, most recent of which is the amazing looking Metaphor: ReFantazio, but I just don’t have 80-odd hours to put into it. Well, I do, but for me that’d be over a period of about six months. Like Lagger, I generally prefer something I can complete in a handful of sessions, or something I can play co-op with my wife (we’re currently playing though Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime, which I can highly recommend).

Enjoying the new look of the site by the way and the increased number of more in-depth pieces (particularly liked the feature on why there aren’t more games based in the real world a few weeks ago) – keep up the good work! And thanks for another year of great coverage – still the best on the internet in my opinion, and with an excellent community. Merry Christmas to you all!
Julian

GC: Thank you very much. And you’re right, Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime is a great co-op game.

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Dawn French Of War
My Christmas letter submission:

Just wanted to share my favourite Names In Games:

Tom Raider
Norman’s Sky
Alan Is Awake
Mark Is The Ninja
Gary & Mark Of The Wolves
Rachel & Clark: Drift Apart

And a takeaway curry bonus:
Armored Korma IV: Fries and a Rubicon
Bll

GC: Norman’s Sky is amazing.

3D in two dimensions
Are you doing a review of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind? I’d seen mixed reviews and it’s not cheap for this sort of retro styled game, so I was hoping you were going to review it.

It looked great in the previews, with the super scaler style sections looking like peak late ‘80s to early ‘90s Sega arcade games before polygons took over.
PE

GC: Your wish is our command.

Time travel
I’m about to open a café and will be working six to six every day and then doing overtime on top of that back of house. I don’t think I’ll have time for video games anymore. It’s a five year lease and I hope to come out the other side with a little bit of cash and some free time again.

What do I want to see in five years’ time when I return to my favourite hobby?

PlayStation 6 – I guess this will be out by 2030. I just hope I can run games at full spec and no loading times. My PlayStation 5 got a bit choppy while playing Cult Of The Lamb the other day… not exactly a graphical powerhouse of a game.

VR – I’ve had a few VR headsets but I’m looking forward to what will be available in five years’ time.
I want something with no wires, that works outside. The only game I want is Battlefield on VR – helicopters, tanks and snipers. That would be amazing.

I’m hoping at least one amazing new IP pops up out of nowhere and takes the world by storm. The last one for me was Demon’s Souls and I’m a bit bored of that style now.

Really, I just hope VR takes off in a big way but don’t think it will until the games are addictive enough, have precise movement capture, and are graphically on par with other consoles. They also need to figure out how to run around and feel immersed instead of just pressing up.

Guess I’m going to miss Final Fantasy 7 remake disc 3. I got bored of disc 2 and stopped playing in the jungle area.

And I’m going to miss so much Call Of Duty that when I get back to it I’ll probably not be able to keep up anymore.

See you in five years.
Merry Christmas
Tommyfatfingers

GC: Good luck!

Northern delights
Bit late to the party here but was looking through for something casual to play in my PSN library and noticed I’d downloaded Thank Goodness You’re Here. Well, what a delightfully strange and wonderfully funny game.

Absolutely bonkers, done in two sittings, on the same grim dark Sunday afternoon. The humour’s non-stop, the jokes are easy to miss, but the rhythm based bit at the end had me laughing out loud and I found myself tapping the ‘X’ button after it had finished, brilliant.
Zombiekicker

Hope for the future
I enjoyed the 2024 Game Awards show, as I knew I would, and there was quite a bit to come away with. It’s always a great occasion and Geoff Keighley is always on target, and I get a good feeling from him. The music performances are always good, with the chosen tunes matching the gaming medium and Snoop Dogg, as we know, being a gamer himself, was always going to be a hit.

The best reveal for me though, game-wise, was Ōkami 2 and, quite frankly, was to me a game that didn’t need a sequel, as the original had such a complete end game that the tale of Ōkami was and is the perfect game! But there are a lot of legendary tales in Japanese mythology that quite frankly I would love to see how this new game will interpret them and along with the unique art and gameplay visuals is definitely going to be on my list of interest for the future.

Death Stranding 2 is good to have been selected for a nominee list, but how far in production that is at the moment, unfortunately Hideo Kojima did not say. But good to know it’s in development and obviously the mind-bending nature of it is going to be awesome to experience, like the first game.

Astro Bot definitely deserves a win, as gameplay is what makes this game so good and that is why we play in the first place, for most of us. I said before how the clever introduction experience to the PlayStation 5 was a pleasure to experience, and the fact a full game with even more amazing depth of gameplay is now available and won Game of the Year is very encouraging indeed.

Another category I like is best gaming score and soundtrack and of course no arguments from me that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth took the winning position for this section. I recently saw the concert version in the Royal Albert Hall with full motion videos on the big screen behind the orchestra of which was my forth experience of this show and definitely one of my favourites. The FFVII Rebirth soundtrack fulfills everything I want from a soundtrack and will be very hard to beat when part 3 is released.

Other notable mentions go to The Outer Worlds 2, Sid Meier’s Civilisation 7 introduction, and obviously not forgetting Harrison Ford taking the surprise star role stage appearance, which was up there with Keanu Reeves a few years ago. This is especially true on the back of the very successful Indiana Jones And The Great Circle game, which has definitely remained true and loyal in regards to the source of inspiration and the requirements for the needed gameplay to make this a proper exciting and immersive game.

So, here’s to another year gone by, a successful 2024, and a great way to end with this most awesome of entertainments – proving once again how relevant our hobby still is and will continue to be. Good times again.
Alucard

GC: Death Stranding 2 is supposed to be out next year.

Inbox also-rans
Requesting some Inbox magic to have a modified ‘cast to TV’ button on Switch 2, which allows for a secondary display on the handheld for inventory, maps, etc. but most importantly an Advance Wars: Dual Strike port/sequel please.
Bad Edit

I think the easiest way to judge how good a game is, is how hooked you are in progressing it. Going by the fact I’ve just spent most of my free time this weekend playing Indiana Jones, I think it’s safe to say it’s a really good game.
Tim

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: Will Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic be a good game?

MORE: Select Games Inbox: Will the Nintendo Switch 2 be at The Game Awards?Games Inbox: Will the Nintendo Switch 2 be at The Game Awards?

MORE: Games Inbox: How much will the PlayStation 6 be?

Some of the best graphics of the year can be found in this loving homage to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and early 90s video games.

It can’t be easy for toymakers like Hasbro, when it often seems that adults are more interested in their wares than kids. Hasbro owns a variety of companies and franchises, including Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering publisher Wizards of the Coast, as well as everything from Transformers to My Little Pony. But after the failure of the recent Transformers One animated movie, they announced they’re going to stop funding new films themselves and instead focus on games and interactive media.

It’s unclear whether this new game is part of that push, since it must have been commissioned some time ago, but they also released a new G.I. Joe game in September – which we haven’t played but doesn’t seem to have reviewed well – that shares a very similar approach. That being, what if both franchises got a big budget arcade game in the early 90s… rather than the cheaply made console cash-ins that actually happened at the time.

As much as we love Transformers, we have no interest in either G.I. Joe or Power Rangers, but the first trailer for Rita’s Rewind immediately grabbed our attention, because it looked like a long lost sibling to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles scrolling beat ‘em-ups crossed with sprite-scaling Sega coin-ops like OutRun and After Burner. Both of which are things we very much are interested in.

Despite being inherently the most shallow of genres, the scrolling beat ‘em-up has had a minor renaissance in recent years, via indie game such as Streets Of Rage 4 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. They often feature gorgeous pixel artwork, but none of them have ever found a way to evolve or modernise the gameplay. It’s not clear any of them are really trying either, since their primary appeal is to nostalgia, but by arriving slightly late to the party Rita’s Rewind has less excuse for not trying to move things on.

The plot, such as we understand it, involves a robotic Rita Repulsa travelling back in time from 2023 (we guess the game must’ve got delayed somewhere along the line) to help out her organic self and take on the less experienced Power Rangers of 1993. Considering the obvious effort that has gone into the game, we’re sure it’s filled with Easter eggs and references to the franchise’s 30+ year existence but those are lost on us.

Whether Shredder’s Revenge was a direct inspiration for the game is unclear but in gameplay terms this is very similar, but then you could say the same for most beat ‘em-ups. You pick the Power Ranger of your choice and then start walking slowly from left to right across the screen, punching and kicking every cannon fodder enemy that comes your way. You’ve also got a dash attack and a super move, that you have to collect coins to use, but that’s pretty much it in terms of gameplay.

The game has up to four-player co-op and while the Rangers are all very nicely distinguished in terms of animation none of their attacks actually do anything different, they just look unique. Even the super moves are basically just smart bombs, and despite the change in visuals they all have the same effect, no matter which flavour of Power Ranger you’re playing as.

The only unusual element is a Time Disrupter crystal which you have to destroy within a time limit, or it rewinds a section of the level, but this is neither as frustrating as it sounds nor as interesting as developer Digital Eclipse probably hoped.

At this point, you’re probably feeling our lack of enthusiasm and while we’d be a lot more excited if it was Transformers rather than Power Rangers, and we recognised all the characters and secret references, we like to think we’d be dispassionate enough to admit that the gameplay is still very shallow and repetitive.

The beat ‘em-up sections do look great, there’s no doubting that, and we enjoyed them purely for the artistry of it all. That and noting all the times the game pays homage to other classic scrolling beat ‘em-ups of yesteryear, from The Simpsons arcade game to The Adventures Of Batman & Robin on the SNES – creating two layers of nostalgia for the price of one.

But what really caught our attention in the initial trailer was the faux sprite-scaling sections (which would’ve been largely outdated by 1993, but who’s counting). Despite their popularity at the time, this is an aspect of arcade gaming that very rarely gets referenced by modern indie titles and that’s a crying shame given how beautiful the sequences are in Rita’s Rewind.

These involve a variety of into-the-screen shooting galleries, as you ride the city streets gunning down enemies on a motorcycle or are literally stuck on-the-rails on a roller coaster. Nothing’s any more complex or nuanced than the beat ‘em-up levels but since they don’t last as long, and are nicely varied in style, they come across as more interesting – even though the action feels quite imprecise and random at times.

Every few ‘episodes’ you’ll enter battle controlling your own particular robot dinosaur and once you’ve softened up the bad guy (which has invariably grown to Godzilla size) you combine to form the MegaZord, at which point the gameplay morphs into a riff on Punch-Out!! as you punch and dodge the giant monster.

This also looks amazing. We really can’t shower enough praise on the retro style visuals, especially as they’re actually quite a bit better than could actually have been achieved at the time, but there’s still nothing to the action and the novelty doesn’t stop the whole game seeming highly repetitive, despite the fact that it barely lasts three hours. A running time that is not helped by an unusually large price tag and very little replayability.

We don’t like to disparage something that has clearly had so much love poured into it, but this either needed to be four times the length, and with at least some attempt to add depth and nuance, or simply a lot cheaper. It’s neither though, which means even Power Rangers and retro graphics fans will have to think twice before indulging in this well-meaning but insubstantial punnet of memberberries.

Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and PC
Price: £28.99
Publisher: Digital Eclipse
Developer: Digital Eclipse
Release Date: 10th November 2024
Age Rating: 12

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter.

To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.

For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.

ROSÉ has been dominating global music charts with her Bruno Mars collab “APT.” sitting comfortably at No. 1 for more than seven weeks. Now a solo pop star, the BLACKPINK member’s own album Rosie is out everywhere, featuring “APT.” and its follow-up singles “number one girl” and “toxic till the end,” alongside a cinematic music video that co-stars Evan Mock as ROSÉ’s love interest.

To celebrate the album release, PAPER and Atlantic Records co-hosted a private party earlier this month in New York City at Jean’s. (ROSÉ is our recent cover girl, after all.) Cocktails were all named after Rosie song titles, including an “APT.” shot in honor of the viral Korean drinking game. ROSÉ arrived with all her friends, like Evan and Clairo, who joined her in taking “APT.” shots while DJs Ty Sunderland and Schmidty played the hits.

Guests danced until early morning, snapped pics in our Rosie photobooth and passed around strawberry cake with the album logo printed across it. Debuting at No. 3 on Billboard, Rosie has become the highest-charting album by any Korean female soloist in history — so there’s plenty to celebrate when it comes to ROSÉ.

Check out more moments from the night by photographer Tyrell Hampton, below

Photography: Tyrell Hampton

At just under a quarter-century young, dance artist and songwriter INJI has lived countless lives.

Born in Istanbul, Turkey and classically trained in piano, the now NYC-based pop-upstart used to sing in jazz bands while attending the prestigious Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Then, in 2022, while still studying business, things took a viral turn. She dropped a track called “GASLIGHT” on TikTok that took off like wildfire. Since then, she’s released other hits like the aptly named “UNTZ UNTZ” and “BELLYDANCING,” to a similar response (it’s been streamed 30 million times and counting).

In September, PAPER got to see just what the hype was about during INJI’s Webster Hall show. The electricity in the room was palpable. Blending cheeky lyrics with a wealth of inspirations — from classic orchestration to the traditional sounds from her upbringing over modern spiraling beats — INJI’s music is contagious, dance-inducing and a breath of fresh air.

Following the September release of her sophomore EP WE GOOD and ahead of the hints of new music to come next year, INJI gave PAPER an exclusive backstage photo pass to her 24th birthday party last weekend at NYC’s SILENCIO.

“I don’t want to jinx it, but life just keeps getting better with every new age,” she tells PAPER. “Turning 24 feels electric — I’m already eyeing 25, 32, 50 and beyond. This year is about diving headfirst into every moment, and you can bet I’ll be writing the soundtrack for all the wild, unforgettable ones. Time better keep up with me. New music soon.”

Below, check out INJI’s photo gallery along with the 24 tracks, from “Girls” by The Dare to “GIRLZ” from INJI herself, that have inspired her big, fun creative life so far.

Thundercat – “Them Changes”

Photography: Chloe May Fuller, Rami Abdulaban

Astro Bot’s win at The Game Awards came as a big surprise to the creators of Black Myth: Wukong, with the developer’s CEO sharing a lengthy statement.

While you might have missed them between all the trailers and adverts, there were actually some awards handed out at The Game Awards 2024.

The big Game Of The Year prize went to Astro Bot, which beat Balatro, Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Metaphor: ReFantazio, and Black Myth: Wukong to take the award.

Astro Bot’s win prompted one of the best speeches of the night from Team Asobi director Nicolas Doucet, where he graciously toasted Nintendo, but it seems like one studio was rather sour over the game’s win.

In a post on Chinese social media site Weibo, following The Game Awards, Game Science CEO Feng Ji shared a lengthy statement (as translated on Reddit) where he said there was a ‘sense of loss and regret’, despite Black Myth: Wukong winning both Best Action Game and Players’ Voice.

While he noted that winning the latter ‘was gratifying’, Ji appeared to question the criteria required to win Game Of The Year. ‘The games nominated this year were all exceptional, but honestly, I still can’t figure out what the criteria were for Game Of The Year,’ he wrote in the translated post. ‘I feel like I came all the way here for nothing!’

He went onto admit that he had written his Game Of The Year acceptance speech two years ago, ‘only to never get the chance to deliver it’.

He added: ‘Since last night, I’ve seen a lot of strong dissatisfaction and frustration in players’ comments – often expressed humorously or ironically, which made me laugh.

‘I completely understand these feelings and share the frustration, because behind these emotions lies not pain or malice, but dignity and confidence. When you’re so confident and yet don’t receive the recognition you expected, it’s natural to feel upset.’

While there’s a chance the tone of Ji’s comments may have been misconstrued in translation, it appears as if he isn’t the only one from developer Game Science who was, at the very least, surprised and upset, after Black Myth: Wukong lost the award.

In a clip which has circulated on X, Alanah Pearce, a former writer at Sony Santa Monica who was at the event, claimed she saw members of the Black Myth: Wukong team ‘crying when Astro Bot got Game Of The Year’.

‘It’s definitely unusual,’ she said. ‘Clearly it meant a lot to them, they did an amazing thing, but I did find that surprising.’

When asked if it was celebratory cry, Pearce replied: ‘No, they were upset. Definitely upset that they didn’t win. Which is also fair, but it was still surprising.’

GameCentral has reached out to Game Science for comment.

Black Myth: Wukong is the first major release from Chinese developer Game Science. The game sold 20 million copies within its first month on sale, and it went onto win Game Of The Year at the Golden Joysticks 2024 – which unlike The Game Awards is voted on purely by the public.

Aside from Astro Bot, the other big winners at The Game Awards were Metaphor ReFantazio, Balatro, and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2.

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter.

To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.

For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.

MORE: Stage Fright is the other new couch co-op game at The Game Awards 2024

MORE: Steel Hunters and Mecha Break giant robot games blow up at Game Awards 2024

MORE: All The Game Awards 2024 announcements and trailer round-up

When images from The Substance inevitably dawn upon you in horrific, delirious flashbacks, they’ll come with a sound: a synthetic whirl that revs up to just stop itself in reverb-ey silence.

It’s the sonic symbol of the titular substance, a medical miracle used in the film by Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), a longtime TV trainer gasping for relevancy, who uses the neon hued serum to transform into a younger, more “beautiful” double named Sue (Margaret Qualley). Every time Sparkle gives herself the magical solution, that electronic whirl plays, often beckoning in the film’s theme — a lurid mix of dark techno exaltation and scraping-the-walls agony.

The film’s memorable score is the work of Benjamin Stefanski, a producer and composer who also releases music as Raffertie. To strike the film’s tense balance, Stefanski deployed a palette of soft ambient synths, grinding, metallic squeals and soft textured strings which harken back to a more classic Hollywood affair. He was looking to lean into the film’s unease, and to sonically represent Sparkle and Sue’s double-existence.

“Some of my early conversations [with Coralie Fargeat, the film’s director and writer,] were around the duality of these two characters,” Stefanski tells PAPER. “We wanted to have something which represents something a little bit more organic for Elisabeth, and perhaps something a little bit more synthetic or hyperreal for Sue.” That sonic concoction is our guide for a story that starts in a space of bright, poppy technicolor and ends in a ghastly, absurd affair filled with screams and bodily fluids.

Stefanski’s score has broken through, making the rare leap from the cinema to dance floors. Following the film’s buzzy release, numerous viral TikToks came out requesting the score be played in clubs. Half-meme, half-demand, the posts were heeded, and soon after Brooklyn’s own Market Hotel hosted a party inspired by the film and its music, drag artists around the world began using it for their own absurd body horror numbers, and the internet began to overflow with edits using the film’s music, grafting its themes of beauty and jealousy onto imagined cross generational “rivals” from throughout pop culture.

All of this was a “pleasant surprise,” Stefanski tells PAPER — especially given the fact that he had just a few months to c create the now-zeitgeist-ey music. “I got involved in January [2024], and [the film’s team] wanted to enter it for the Cannes Film Festival in May. [Coralie Fargeat], put a lot of trust in me,” he shares. Indeed, trust and craft came together, and though his sounds may haunt our dreams, we’re thankful for the thought-provoking nightmare.

PAPER caught up with Stefanski in the wake of The Substance-mania to chat about the process behind the music, body horror, and how his work on the film merged with the creation of his own latest double-single release: the propulsive, deliciously grim “Can’t Stop” and “Atlas.

It’s rare for a film score to break through and be played in clubs. Were you thinking about the music existing outside of the film while you were making it?

Not really. I got a request to send in a reel for the film in January of this year. Coralie responded really strongly to five or six tracks on that reel, and that became part of the film’s musical language. She knew that she wanted an electronic score, or at least something which featured electronics quite heavily. And then some of our early conversations were around the duality of these two characters. We wanted to have something which represents something a little bit more organic for Elisabeth, and perhaps something a little bit more synthetic or hyperreal for Sue. But there was never an explicit conversation about it stylistically.

Coralie put a lot of trust in me to respond to the film as I saw it. She gave me quite a lot of space, despite the fact that there was a small amount of time. I got involved in January, and they wanted to enter it for the Cannes Film Festival in May. So she put a lot of trust in me to go away for a couple of weeks, make some ideas and do what I thought was best based on a few pointers.

So to your original question: I don’t think there was ever really a conversation about how the music would be perceived outside of the film. But certainly with the title track, “The Substance” — it felt very appropriate to have this club, techno-leaning piece of music, which incorporated the “The Substance” sound which we hear throughout the film. And we needed this sensual, slightly dark underpinning for the character of Sue. That club-leaning techno track worked quite well for that character.

Did you explore other genres with Coralie throughout the process? Or did you immediately know that techno would be part of the language of the film?

I have a thing that I do. That’s not to say that I approach every film score in the same way, but I think people come to me because I am good at working with electronics. And there’s an element of my music which I think crosses over between sound design and music. One of the things which I’m most pleased about with the film is how the sound design and the music fit so well together. There are these blurred lines between the two. People have asked me, “Is that moment from the sound design department? Or is that the score?” I like the interplay between those things.

See on Instagram

The film was one of the more visceral cinematic experiences I’ve had in recent year; the images have stuck with me long after seeing the film. Did you have a relationship to body horror, or this particular genre, prior to working on the film?

Not especially. I feel very excited watching horror films. It feels like a safe space to explore that kind of excitement. But I’ve never worked on anything quite like it before. The film does use body horror and I suppose that does make it a “body horror film.” But it uses horror tropes to talk about this inner voice and the horrible things that we say to ourselves. It’s using horror tropes to see that voice in full effect, rather than it just being this abstract internal dialogue.

As the person making the score, you’re coming into the filmmaking towards the end, where all the images are done. So you’re sitting with these grotesque, very emotionally affecting images. What was the emotional experience like sitting with this footage for hours on end?

You have to allow it to affect you to an extent, because part of your role is to express the emotional content of the film, or at least emphasize it in some way. But The Substance becomes quite surreal and almost ridiculous at the end: the amount of blood that’s used is not realistic in any sense. That’s part of what’s brilliant about it. You do become a little bit desensitized to it, but at the same time I think The Substance is never trying to be realistic, so you can tap into what it’s trying to say, rather than just sort of being put off or horrified by it.

See on Instagram

I read that Margaret Qualley was listening to Charli xcx to get in the mode of Sue. A lot of pop stars have really gravitated towards the film (Slayyyter was posting about it, for example). Was pop music on your mind on any level, given that it had this resonance with the genre after the fact?

It’s been really interesting to see the cross pollination between Brat and The Substance. There’s the color of the Brat record which is similar to [The Substance] “activator,” for example. As far as I’m aware, that was completely unintentional. But it’s fascinating. With my own music, I’ve danced around the pop sphere in some ways. I’ve never had a pop single, but some elements of what I’ve done have touched on things that are going on now [in pop]. But it’s just a coincidence, though, with how it’s aligned. I didn’t know that about Margaret listening to Charli xcx to get in the mood for the role, though, so maybe some of that inadvertently filtered through.

I know you’ve spoken in the past about how your film scoring work and your own personal artistic work are distinct from one another. Tell me about your last two-track release, “Can’t Stop” and “Atlas. It feels like these are very much in conversation with The Substance.

I looked at those two worlds as very distinct things for a long time. The more that I’ve worked on film scores, the more that I get a better result by leaning into what comes naturally to me. Obviously there are slightly different technical considerations — whether your music has to fit with dialogue, for instance — but I think just purely in an artistic sense, there’s no reason the two can’t coexist and come from a similar place. Now, I’m a lot more comfortable with that than I ever was in the past. I felt like there had to be these distinct worlds, but not so much these days.

Did The Substance facilitate that in particular?

Yes, I suppose so. Coralie is a very inspiring person to work with. She has quite an uncompromising attitude towards her vision. Some of that relies on having a really good idea, and she had an amazing idea with The Substance. But then, once you have that good idea, it’s really about pushing it as far as it can go and not compromising on what you want to say. So from that point of view, I’ve come out of The Substance, feeling a renewed confidence by just trying to follow Coralie’s example by sticking to what you believe in artistically.

Photography: Josh Shinner