Electronic dance musician & violinist Lindsey Stirling teamed up with electro-pop vocalist Kiesza and mobile game Azur Lane for new single “What You’re Made Of” and accompanying video. The single will be the official theme song for the game.

The 2D shooter game is releasing the song for its 2nd anniversary. Azur Lane’s team told Stirling that the track fit into the game’s worldview since it heroically deals with struggling to overcome opposition. The world in the game is a water-covered planet that has come under attack by enemies called Siren.

According to Stirling, she wrote the track with RuthAnne Cunningham and Wendy Wang at a SheWrites all-female writing camp. She said about it, “It’s about how even when you feel broken, you are so incredibly powerful. It’s in the moments of near defeat that you chart your truest fate because the way you react when you’re at the bottom really shows what you’re made of.”

She also mentioned being ‘ecstatic’ about the song being for an anime game because she always loved anime artwork. In the lyric video, Kiesza’s singing is identified with the plight of one of the game’s characters, who’s sinking through the water but manages to reach up for help and pull herself out. The artwork for Stirling’s last album, Artemis, was also in the anime style. Artemis debuted on the Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Albums Chart at #1 when it was released in late 2019 and stayed on the chart for fifteen weeks total.

“What You’re Made Of” is Stirling’s first release of 2020 under her name, but she appeared on a strings session version of Bishop Briggs’ song. “Jekyll and Hyde” and will be featured on the Evanescence song, “Use My Voice,” that releases tomorrow, August 14, in anticipation of Evanescence’s upcoming album, The Bitter Truth. Kiesza has released a handful of singles this year in support of her album Crave, which also drops tomorrow as a self-released digital album.

Additionally, Stirling announced a virtual performance called Live: The Artemis Reprise for August 20 at 3 p.m. PST. The interactive concert experience is being put on by Wave, is streaming on Twitch, Facebook and YouTube, and is in support of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Photo credit: Sharon Alagna