Kentucky Route Zero's robot band just released an EP of chill synth jams
Sad robot love songs.
Looking back, I reckon Kentucky Route Zero's third act might've been the best of the lot. That it was the act to introduce wandering musicians Johnny and Junebug playing no small part in that impression. This week, the fictional duo took their music out of the supernatural road trip with an EP full of sad robot love songs - a perfect soundtrack for getting lonely with on these rainy October afternoons.
Minor character spoilers ahead for Kentucky Route Zero. Nothing too major, though I s'pose the presence of a robot band may in itself be considered one. Soz.
Appearing in KRZ's third act (and hinted at in The Entertainment, the intermission between acts 2 and 3), Junebug are an android duet who end up tagging along with Conway and the gang. The band also had a standalone release back in 2016, launching alongside the adorably public access music video featured above.
This week's release includes Act 3's titular "Too Late To Love You" and the later "Static Between Stations", along with 9 more brand new lonely synth vibes. For my money, the title track still steals the set, even removed from its interactive framing in the game proper. It's a properly haunting piece of music. The entire EP is worth a listen, though, a wonderfully melancholy collection of neon-drenched late-night moods.
Plans to bring Junebug out of the game have been floating for a while, with hints starting back with that 2016 vid. In an interview with USGamer, composer Ben Babitt felt that writing the in-game track was an "impactful kind of creative moment", one that inspired him to fill out the band's discography with a full EP.
KRZ also had a second fictional band, mind, never even minding Babbitt's brilliant non-diegetic soundtrack. Personally, I'm quietly hoping for a full album of folksy musings courtesy of The Bedquilt Ramblers. Junebug's
Too Late to Love You is currently available on Bandcamp for $7.