I’ve made my Rule212 playlist public on Spotify – take a listen below. You can also follow me on Spotify to find other playlists related to the books.
I’ve resisted being too specific in the books about Rule212’s sound, beyond a vague “indie rock” (which could mean anything these days) and a lot of electric guitars, which moves them more into the hard rock category. Or nu-metal, post-grunge… whatever new-fangled label seems applicable. So this list is “representative” of their sound but don’t take it too literally.
The Wynter Wild Wiki has more information on their music.
I’ll add more songs when I think of them, as there’s definitely not enough riff-based music, and too many ballads…
Compare to Xay’s playlist, which is more straight-up hard rock with an emphasis on powerful singing.
I chose these songs for many reasons, but more the instrumentation, harmonies and feel rather than specifically how the singers sound. A few provisos:
- These aren’t super well-known songs if you listen to Top 40 radio, though most are fairly recent. In some cases I don’t know anything about the bands – I just like that particular song of theirs.
- Some of the songs are themselves covers because the sound was closer to Rule212 – who incidentally sing exclusively originals now they have an album out.
- Some of these bands are Christian (overtly or not), while Rule212 is not. As with all the songs, the lyrics aren’t necessarily what they’d write even if the sentiment is applicable.
- As mentioned, the songs have approximately the right “feel” but in most cases the singers aren’t “right” for our characters. These are largely male singers, but you can imagine Wynter singing a few of them.
- There may be other instruments in here (like synth and piano and… um, trumpet!) that Rule212 doesn’t use, at least on stage. Rule212 are a basic four-piece and don’t follow the modern trend to over-produce when they record (because they don’t use a producer, for a start) so imagine a rougher edge to the music as you listen.
I attempted to order the songs as you might hear them at a live gig – starting off dramatic and intense, cooling off in the middle, then finishing lively and fun. (I made that up. I don’t know how musicians arrange their setlists.) But there are too many slow numbers. So, Invictus is the finale song, and the six tacked on the end are perhaps a separate acoustic gig.
Sit back, relax, and enjoy – but don’t you dare pull out a lighter for the ballads! Indio will have you thrown out.
Sara Creasy 