Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has more than 800 songs. If there's one standout track, it's arguably "Lifelight" - the main theme for the latest entry. Last November, we found out the English-language version of the track was performed by the singer and voice actor, Abby Trott. Previously, she's been featured in the credits for Spider-Man, Halo Wars 2, NieR Automata, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice to name a few.
In a recent interview with the French website Puissance Nintendo, Trott revealed what it was like to discover she would be the voice behind the iconic track and how it all came about in the first place. In typical fashion, she auditioned for an unknown part. When she found out she would feature in the new Smash Bros. naturally she was thrilled as a "life-long" Nintendo fan:
"I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to audition through Cup of Tea Productions, and at the time I had no idea what the audition was for. For the first round, I submitted my singing demo. The second round involved singing a requested song (not “Lifelight”). I ended upbeingcast, and CRIED when I found out what the project was. As a life-long fan of Nintendo, being a part of Smash Bros. Ultimate is really special to me. I love “Lifelight” so much."
Prior to the recording of the English version of Lifelight, all Abby had heard was the instrumental version of the new song in Ultimate. It was her job to develop a unique interpretation. All up, she spent a day in the studio working out an approach and then recording:
"I believe we recorded around the same time, so I had only heard the instrumental track. I was lucky enough to have the incredible Greg Chun as my musical director, and with input from Nintendo regarding the mood and emotion of the song, we developed our interpretation."
The talented singer has been overwhelmed by the love she's received by the fans of the game and said it was a humbling experience:
"I have been utterly overwhelmed by the love received by fans for “Lifelight.” Reading everyone’s comments and messages, and listening to all of the different covers has been utterly amazing and humbling. As an artist, and as a Nintendo fan myself, I was so nervous when the song was released- I just hoped that fans would love it as much as I do."
When asked if she would ever perform the song live on stage, this is what she had to say:
"Unknown! We shall see."
[source p-nintendo.com]
Comments 28
Lifelight is great and She is very talented!
Hope Guantanamo pays them royalties.
What a wonderful lady, glad she got a chance to make her dream come true!
what a queen, my heart, help 😻
She did great, no doubt.
I've played every Super Smash Bros. game, and out of all of them, "Lifelight" is my favorite intro song, by far. I was blown away enough by the instrumental version from E3 2018 (the choral segment near the end still gives me chills!), but when I heard her sing in the "World of Light" trailer, she put the E3 2018 version to shame.
She should be proud of her accomplishment. She has made a lifelong (or is that lifelight? ) fan out of me.
I love Lifelight, when it came during the Smash Direct in November it gave me chills (in a good way). It's catchy and it somehow manages to fit with the theme of Smash. I still listen to it every so often via YouTube, and I love listening to it every time! Great job Abby!
Cool story, song is awesome!!
When I first turned the game on, I just sat through the opening sequence listening to Lifelight and at the end of it, I was in tears. This song is like a culmination of every warm feeling and the utter epicness that is the whole Smash Bros phenomenon. Pure Nintendo magic in audio form.
This song is so magical, due in no small part to Abby's fantastic performance. I'll never forget booting the game on for the first time, and hearing the song mixed with the awesome opening cinematic...man, I felt like a kid again. It was just incredible. Thank you Ms. Trott!
I was hoping I wasn't the only person on earth to find the intro painfully unpleasant.
@SpaceboyScreams the lyrics are too dependent on being about the barley existent story and hyping it up to sound like something more than it actually is.
The song is breathtaking and Abby is very talented!!
The song is awfully cheesy (for me) but you can still see that she has a powerful voice and I wonder what she can do in the mainstream field.
Japanese version of the song is also really good.
Personally, it's one of my least favorite songs to feature in a video game in all my history of gaming. In my opinion it's a bit cringey.
That being said, I can't stop whistling the dang tune!
It's a beautiful song. I find myself humming or singing it while I clean.
P.S. A bit off topic but I seem to be feeling sick with a bit of a stomach bug & can't sleep. Anyone have any suggestions for easy/natural home remidies?
Even my gf started whistling this song and she has barely played the game!
Aww that’s fantastic
Can't say I like the song. But it's nice to hear she enjoyed the process of making the song for Nintendo.
@Baart That last part was highly inappropriate, please don't make comments like that
Better then jum up superstar. Oh, and she's pretty too!
Where can we purchase the song?
She’s a great singer and I’m glad she go her dream, but I loath this song so much I mute the console until I get passed it. It seems more like an intro song to an anime instead of a fighting game. This song has definitely reduced the amount I play smash, substantially. ARMS has a better theme song than this that gets more in the mood to play. Granted it’s much more simple and repetitive but I don’t get that anime feeling from it.
Great song, and she did great work on this song! She's not what I pictured, based on the singing style I actually assumed the Japanese and English versions were both sung by the same artist. I'm sure it's due to the producers, but her singing style is extremely Japanese style in this, I thought for sure it was a dual-language recording by the same artist.
Ultimate's intro is really good and highlights, in a way, the feels we had growing up with the smash series as a whole with all these characters over the years. However! My favorite intro will still be Brawl's! The sheer feels of epicness from that intro song back then and Brawl's Final Destination theme....jeez!!! Sheer awesomeness!!! I'm so glad you can pick Brawl's final destination theme for Ultimate's Final Destination stage.
When I first heard Lifelight, I cringed. But as the song went on, it grew on me, and grew on me... Now I find myself randomly belting “Colors weave into a spire of flame!!!” out of nowhere and continuing to finish the entire song. 😂
Lifelight is a very weird song, but one that I can’t stop singing. I know all the lyrics and am working on playing it on piano. 😂 Congrats, Ms. Trott, on a job well done and a dream come true! You’ve made a fan out of me!
@tekknik I heavily disagree that Lifelight is bad, but I definitely agree that ARMS’ theme gets you hyped up to play! It reminds me of something you’d hear at a Brazilian soccer game.
@SpaceboyScreams I don't fancy the song either,but hey,props to her to getting casted.
My 3yr old is OBSESSED with this song. It’s the only thing that calms him down when he’s upset. Where can I buy this track for digital download? I’ve checked itunes but it’s difficult to tell what’s legit and none have Abby Trott for the vocals. TIA
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