Forza Horizon 5: Hospital Soundtrack

Drum’n’bass has had a symbiotic relationship with video games since the days of Playstation demo discs. And the Forza Horizon series of open-world racing titles has held fast to that crucial facet of classic gaming tradition since the second entry in the series, thanks to a partnership with UK d’n’b label Hospital Records. For the last four titles in the gaming franchise, Hospital has appeared as an in-game radio station meant to soundtrack dune buggy jumps and smoke-billowing drifts and hypercar excursions past the 300 MPH barrier, and the general approach of their roster— aggressive, rapidfire Metalheadz-caliber beats fused with the euphoric melodic dynamics of big-room club bangers or airy synthpop — perfectly fits a setting that’s half music festival, half Hot Wheels stunt spectacular. So you get a soundtrack that nails this atmospheric combo of high-speed thrills and scenic-beauty awe, and doesn’t even need any listener connection to the game itself to feel it. A couple titles might stir up immediate associations —  a collab between Makoto and Mitekiss gives their spacious yet massive-kicking exercise in crescendo-building the Gran Turismo-nodding title “Trial Mountain,” while d’n’b supergroup Kings Of The Rollers turn “Amen” breaks and ’70s analog synths into flaming scrap metal on the cage-rattling “Burn Out” — but the majority of this comp doesn’t require an open (digital) road to enjoy. It just takes the ability to give in to another kind of relentless drive: one that makes it feel like you could turn a fast-moving earthbound state into a trip into the stratosphere (Urbandawn’s sunrise-as-explosion “Fly Away”), or bask in the fluttering yet blissful anticipation of a late night that’s just getting started (Bop X Subwave’s “Zaichik”), or chase an endless vanishing point that you know you’ll never catch — but who cares when you’re sparking pyrotechnic trails for all your friends to see (Grafix’s Ruth Royall-featuring banger “Alone”).