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Chip Tanaka, the man behind the music of Metroid, Dr. Mario, and EarthBound Beginnings, continues his late-career reinvention as an electronic music artist. Domani is his third solo album, and it radiates this warm, organic electronic sound that only someone with decades of hardware synthesis experience could produce.
Fourteen tracks that feel handcrafted rather than programmed. "GO->JUMP" opens with playful energy that nods to his game music roots without being nostalgic about it. "Pacific" and "Voyage" capture oceanic vastness with shimmering pads and patient rhythms.
"Cactus Chant" is this earthy, hypnotic groove that sounds sun-baked, while "Moon Drop" pulls in the opposite direction, cool and nocturnal. "Shadow Dance" has this slinky, late-night pulse to it. "1912" closes the album with a contemplative piece that hints at something historical and deeply personal.
"Sandstorm" and "Rainy Ride" work as contrasting texture studies, one abrasive and dry, the other smooth and liquid. The whole thing is Hirokazu Tanaka proving that game composers don't just retire, they evolve.