Most of my work in Year Walk ended up being about reducing feelings, rather than emphasizing them.

Before I had composed any music, I found the game’s silence to be very unsettling. Initially, I considered writing horror-themed music, but because the game was so terrifying without music, I instead tried to soften the feeling of terror through my music.

Similarly, I didn’t have to try and lean into any “folkiness”. The region in Sweden that I grew up in has a rich tradition of folk music. The Swedish culture, and the specific melancholia that comes with being Swedish, is already so ingrained in me, so I could instead try to stretch what could be accepted as sounding traditional.