Had to let this one cook for a little bit but the first cover of Year 3 is finally here! Spent a lot of time on this cover, combining ideas from everything I've attempted from previous covers along with some new concepts I've been meaning to try for a long time. Really want to try take a step up in musical quality this year and I believe this cover is a solid first step. As always, if you liked the cover be sure to drop and share it with a friend or two! And if you'd like to join the community discord and hang out with some fellow musicians or just music enjoyers in general, you can tap in here: https://discord.com/invite/6deCnKhBTK Ever since Xenoblade 3 first released, I knew I would have to cover the song on the channel at some point. That game sits as my new favorite game of all time and I really wanted to show it some love with a cover. Carrying The Weight Of Life simply felt like the perfect song despite it being used only a few times in game, its a really inspiring piece that never fails to give me the energy to keep grinding at whatever I'm doing, whether it be physical or mental. As a result of that, I didn't really feel inclined to do a slower or "chill" version of this song in a cover and opted for more of an alternative type of energy in this cover compared to the original piece. There was a lot of J-Rock inspiration that shined through in the first half and conclusion while there was a bit more of a bossa nova type beat going on in the middle of things. The core concepts of this cover stem from all of my previous works, feeling like a big send off to Year 2 of the channel. Kura Kura helped me solidify my ability to transition between styles in the same piece, Pushed Over taught me how to stay on the same chord for more than 4 beats while it keeping things musically interesting, New Stranger helped me think on a deeper level with background parts and using harmonies to add a little bit of complexity to the mix, etc. I treated this cover as both an end of an era and the start of something new. Hoping this will be a solid basis to begin really pushing myself and what I perceive to be musically possible with my ideas. I'm letting yall know now, this year is gonna have A LOT of Under Night and Persona 3 covers. I've been looking forward to both of those games for way too long so I gotta show love to both. The Raito and Persona fan boys in me wouldn't allow me to do anything else lol. If you aren't a fan of Under Night or Persona however, don't be alarmed as I still have a good amount of songs from other series and games planned for this year. I have at least 2 anime songs lined up for this year at some point, alongside some more Sonic covers and even some Final Fantasy. There's plenty to look forward to for Year 3 of the channel, thankful for you guys being here with me for the ride. Gonna press the gas and shoot for 1000 subscribers this year and I'll need your support every step of the way. As always, if you read this essay of ramblings down to this point, you're a real one. Under Night 2 drops in less than a week so the next cover is going to be from that game, one that you should all be familiar with already. It might even drop a bit sooner than you think, who knows...regardless, stay safe out there and I'll see you all in the next cover!