Pre-orders are now open for a three-hour Grand Theft Auto VI soundtrack album by Justice, which Rockstar Games has officially announced.
The Grammy-winning French electronic duo and Rockstar revealed Grand Theft Auto VI: Original Score jointly. Because Music, Ed Banger and Rockstar Games will release it on December 11. Buyers can pick a 2-CD set or a 3-LP set, and the vinyl is sold in either standard black or a limited crystal clear edition. Each format holds 30 tracks, with several bonus digital tracks added on. Altogether, that comes to a three-hour suite of music from the game.
Music that follows the player
Justice, made up of Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, were hand-picked by Rockstar. They worked closely with the studio’s team to hit the game’s thematic beats, reshaping their signature sound around the world of Grand Theft Auto VI and the story of Jason and Lucia.
Players will care most about how the score behaves in the game. The official announcement says it is dynamically tuned to game events in real time, shifting with the different ways players handle the people and places of Leonida.
“The scope of the game is so large geographically and thematically that it was clear from the beginning the music would also have to be very broad in terms of emotions, genres, and textures,” de Rosnay said. “We were given the freedom to explore as many things as we needed to, musically speaking.”
Justice albums usually run well under an hour, so a three-hour release suggests they used that freedom.
The two tracks out so far
“Flower In a Hurricane” came first, featuring Tame Impala, SZA and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. It debuted at No. 34 on the US alternative radio chart and reached No. 62 on the Billboard Hot 100, the first non-feature track by Justice to make that chart.
Next came “Pusher,” a preview of the score’s instrumental side. The track is Justice’s first collaboration with Gesaffelstein, a fellow French electronic artist with a long track record.
The road to GTA VI
Nearly 20 years ago, Justice arrived on the Parisian labels Ed Banger Records and Because Music with the single “Waters of Nazareth.” Their debut album, home to the worldwide hit “D.A.N.C.E.,” established them.
The GTA VI project follows directly on from the Hyperdrama cycle, which began with a stage-closing Coachella set and finished with a US arena tour. Along the way, the pair picked up a Grammy for Best Electronic Recording.
Justice will play a DJ set at Simifest in Mexico City on December 5, ahead of the album’s release.