Tune In With Chewie Reworks Pokémon Game Music Into an Emo Instrumental Album, 'Poké Emo'

Multi-instrumentalist Tune In With Chewie has announced Poké Emo, an instrumental album reworking beloved themes from across the Pokémon game series into emo arrangements. As reported by NME, the project draws on Jimmy Eat World, Mineral and American Football as reference points, built around guitar work recorded in a range of alternate tunings. The official press materials describe the sound as "equal parts nostalgic and cathartic." It follows last year's Zelda's Midwest Emo Mixtape, which applied a similar treatment to Legend of Zelda themes.

Arrangement details and hidden tributes

Chewie reharmonized much of the source material for this project and buried a number of fan-facing references inside the tracks. According to the press release, the intro to "Pokémon Theme" borrows the chord progression from Sunny Day Real Estate's "8," while a trumpet line woven into "Jubilife Village" is a direct nod to American Football. The album artwork carries its own tribute too, with a deliberate visual reference to Mineral.

In the artist's words

"Pokémon has always been a series I wanted to do a full album for, I just never got around to it," Tune In With Chewie said. After the response to Zelda's Midwest Emo Mixtape, he decided to give Pokémon the same treatment. He cites midwest emo acts like Mineral, American Football and Sunny Day Real Estate as core influences, alongside 2000s emo bands such as My Chemical Romance, Jimmy Eat World and Thursday. He also worked in math rock elements on this record, something he says he touched on less on the Zelda project.

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