I thought it was already determined that Sayuri Sugawara was going to be responsible for the vocal themes for Final Fantasy XIII, but Square Enix apparently had something else in mind… at least for the West. They’ve recently announced that the Western release will feature a main theme titled “My Hands” by multi-platinum selling singer and songwriter Leona Lewis.
Funny enough, I had no idea who Leona Lewis was by name. I read in Square Enix’s press release that she was responsible for “Bleeding Love,” but I had no idea what that was until I checked it out on YouTube and recognized it immediately. Shows how much I keep up with pop music in the States!
Anyway, it’s unprecedented that Square Enix is replacing their Japanese theme song entirely in this way, and even more so that they’re not having a song created specifically for Final Fantasy XIII, and are rather going the route of anime and plugging already-existing material into the game. I have to say that this is a huge disappointment.
Oh, I guess they also announced the game’s release date for March 9, 2010 if you care about that sort of thing. Are you surprised by this announcement? Will you be taking a peek into Leona Lewis’s new album, ECHO, which features “My Hands” that’s out this week?
Read the official press release from Square Enix after the jump. (more…)