Lena Raine
Raine in 2018
Background information
Also known as	Lena Chappelle Kuraine
Born	(1984-02-29) February 29, 1984 (age 41) Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Genres	Soundtrack electronic^[1]
Occupations	Composer producer game designer
Labels	Radical Dreamland Local Action Materia Collective Ship To Shore PhonoCo.

Website	lena.fyi

Lena Raine (/ˈleɪ.nə/ LAY-nə or /ˈlɛ.nə/ LEN-ə;^[2] born February 29, 1984), also known as Lena Chappelle or Kuraine,^[3]^[1] is an American and Canadian composer, producer, and video game developer. Raine is best known for her work on the soundtracks of Minecraft, Celeste, and Guild Wars 2. She has composed music for various other video games, including Deltarune and Chicory: A Colorful Tale.

Early life

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Raine was born on February 29, 1984^[4] in Seattle, Washington.^[5] Her father is a musician and her mother is a dancer.^[6] She had an early exposure to music due to participation in choir at a young age. Her father was also a violinist.^[7] Through a Sonic the Hedgehog fan community she was introduced to MIDI arrangement, first recreating versions of songs she knew and then making original music.^[8] She later attended Cornish College of the Arts for a degree in music composition.^[7]

Career

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In her early career, Raine worked on titles such as Dead State and Hackmud, released in 2014 and 2016 respectively.^[9] Raine began working at large studios while located in Seattle, Washington,^[9] doing quality assurance and certification testing at companies such as Microsoft and Nintendo.^[9]^[10] She did this while releasing her own music before she was eventually hired at ArenaNet.^[10] Being best known for her work on the soundtracks of Minecraft, Celeste and Guild Wars 2,^[11] she worked on Guild Wars 2 at ArenaNet for six years as a designer and soundtrack composer.^[12] At ArenaNet, she and Maclaine Diemer were in-house composers of the music for the game's 2015 expansion, Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns.^[13] She left ArenaNet in 2016,^[12] but has continued to occasionally compose songs for its various releases as a freelancer.

In 2018, Raine released the text adventure ESC on itch.io. Raine was the developer and composer for ESC, with visuals created by Dataerase.^[14]^[15] In 2019, she released her debut album, Oneknowing.^[16] She would continue to do freelance and self-published work from 2019 onward, with her composition work for larger studios, such as her mastering work on Steven Universe: The Movie soundtrack,^[17] being released during the same time as her personal work on websites like Bandcamp.^[9]^[10]

She composed music for Minecraft, creating four new pieces of music which were included in the 1.16 "Nether Update" in 2020.^[18] A year later, she returned to Minecraft, composing six new tracks for the 1.18 "Caves & Cliffs: Part II" update, alongside fellow video game composer Kumi Tanioka.^[19] A year after that, she also composed another three new tracks for the 1.19 "The Wild Update", and then about two years later, she composed five new tracks for 1.21 "Tricky Trials". Raine created the soundtrack for the adventure RPG Chicory: A Colorful Tale,^[20] and assisted with the soundtrack for the second chapter of Deltarune, both released in 2021.^[21]

On May 28, 2024, Raine announced Anothereal, a game combining elements of shoot 'em up and role-playing video games,^[22]^[23] Raine is credited with being the primary designer of the project, with work having begun in 2021. The game is being developed by Radical Dreamland, Raine's single-person development studio.^[24]^[25]

Personal life

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Lena Raine is transgender. She has also written a book titled City Of Tigers, and has begun composing more LGBT-oriented fiction in her spare time.^[26]

Awards

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Raine was nominated for a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) and won American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Video Game Score of the Year in 2019 for Celeste.^[27]^[28] Her soundtrack for Celeste was also nominated for Best Score/Music at The Game Awards 2018.^[29]

Discography

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Albums and singles

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List of albums and singles
Year	Title	Notes
1999	Changing of the Tide^[30]	Compilation
2016	Snowflight	EP
	Singularity	EP
	Acoustic Collection	Acoustic compilation
	"Transference"	Single
2017	"Dawn Ouroboros"	Single
2017	Chip Collection	Chiptune compilation
2018	A Day on the Road	EP
2018	"Lullaby for Lancer"	Single
2019	"2X18"	Single
2019	Oneknowing^[16]	Debut full-length album
2020	Reknowing^[31]	Remix album of Oneknowing

Soundtracks

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List of soundtrack contributions
Year	Title	Type
2013	Music Madness	Video game
2014	Dead State
2015	Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns^[11]
2016	Panic at Multiverse High!
	Upshift
	Hackmud
2018	Celeste
	Celeste – Madeline's Grab Bag
	ESCISM (ESC Original Soundtrack)
2019	Celeste: Farewell^[32]
2019	Steven Universe: The Movie	TV movie
2020	Spin Rhythm XD Beyond the Heart (Broken Heart Mix)	Video game
	Minecraft: Nether Update^[33]
	Sackboy: A Big Adventure
2021	Celeste Classic 2: Lani's Trek
	Chicory: A Colorful Tale^[20]
	Deltarune: Chapter 2^[34]
	Minecraft: Caves & Cliffs^[35]
	Moonglow Bay^[36]
2022	Minecraft: The Wild Update^[37]
2022	Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons
2023	Harmony: The Fall of Reverie^[38]
2024	Celeste 64: Fragments of the Mountain
	Beastieball
	Minecraft: Tricky Trials
Cancelled	Earthblade^[39]
TBA	Anothereal

Games

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Year	Title	Role
2018	ESC	Writer, designer, programmer, composer^[40]
2018	Celeste	Writing assistance, composer
2019	Guildlings	Special thanks
2023	Misericorde: Volume One	Special thanks
TBA	Anothereal	Writer, designer, programmer, composer^[25]

References

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^ ^a ^b "Lena Raine Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 21, 2023. Retrieved June 21, 2023. Electronic artist aka Kuraine whose melancholy compositional style can be heard on game soundtracks such as Celeste.
^ Lena Raine [@kuraine] (July 15, 2020). "lay-nuh or len-uh, either is fine I just don't like 'lee-nuh' cos that's "Lina" or "Leena" to me" (Tweet). Retrieved August 21, 2023 – via Twitter.
^ Boddy, Zachary (April 9, 2020). "Celeste composer Lena Raine has composed custom tracks for 'the Nether Update' on Minecraft". Windows Central. Archived from the original on April 12, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
^ Raine, Lena [@kuraine] (February 28, 2018). "heya it's my birthday (observed)! fun facts: – it's actually on the 29th but yknow – I don't get twitter balloons this year – I celebrate in feb cos march isn't my birth month – I've celebrated 8.5 real birthdays now – 🎉🎈" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ "Lena Chappelle (Author of City of Tigers)". Goodreads. Archived from the original on June 21, 2023. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
^ "Lena Raine – Celeste | Gamemusic". gamemusic.net. August 28, 2019. Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "INTERVIEW: Composer Lena Raine talks Celeste Soundtrack & working in Game Audio". Original Sound Version. Archived from the original on September 8, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
^ "Interview with Lena Raine". Super Magfest. August 23, 2019. Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Goldner, Sam (March 29, 2019). "Lena Raine's Digital Ambience Can Make You Panic or Help You Relax". VICE. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Lena Raine and the quest for the cosy web". NoTags. March 24, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Wakeling, Richard (April 9, 2020). "Minecraft's Nether Update Features Music From Celeste Composer". GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Olivetti, Justin (August 13, 2016). "Guild Wars 2 says farewell to composer Lena Chappelle". Massively Overpowered. Archived from the original on April 30, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
^ Johnson, Leif (November 6, 2015). "Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns Review". IGN. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
^ Prescott, Shaun (May 18, 2020). "Five new Steam games you probably missed (May 18, 2020)". PC Gamer. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
^ Umar, Akhira (April 26, 2018). "UK alumnus '2 Mello' makes money out of music". The Kentucky Kernel. Archived from the original on October 15, 2020. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Goldner, Sam (March 29, 2019). "Lena Raine's Digital Ambience Can Make You Panic or Help You Relax". Vice. Archived from the original on January 25, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
^ "Steven Universe: The Movie (Original Soundtrack) by Steven Universe". Genius. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
^ Winslow, Jeremy (April 15, 2020). "Minecraft Update Adds New Blocks And More For Older PC Version". GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 12, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
^ Leston, Ryan (October 20, 2021). "'Minecraft' just added some new music". NME. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Renadette, Brian (August 21, 2019). "Crowdfunding Spotlight – Chicory: A Colorful Tale". TechRaptor. Archived from the original on February 25, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
^ Klaus (September 25, 2021). "Deltarune Chapter 2 est disponible gratuitement sur Nintendo Switch et PS4 via une mise à jour du premier épisode" [Deltarune Chapter 2 is available for free on Nintendo Switch and PS4 through an updated to the first episode]. Nintendo-Difference (in French). Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. La bande originale composée par Toby Fox, qui a été aidé par Lena Raine et Marcy Nabors, ... [The original soundtrack composed by Toby Fox, with assistance from Lena Raine and Marcy Nabors, ...]
^ Reynolds, Ollie (May 29, 2024). "Celeste Composer Reveals New Shmup RPG Anothereal". Nintendo Life. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
^ Serin, Kaan (May 29, 2024). "Celeste's composer announces a shoot 'em up RPG that recalls Undertale - a pitch almost as grand as I know the soundtrack will be". GamesRadar+. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
^ "ANOTHEREAL". cohost. Archived from the original on January 2, 2025. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
^ ^a ^b "ANOTHEREAL - Press Kit". Notion. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
^ "Interview: A Conversation with Lena Chappelle". PinkFae Gaming. September 3, 2015. Archived from the original on July 3, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
^ "BAFTA Games Awards winners 2019". www.bafta.org. March 11, 2019. Archived from the original on October 29, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
^ "2019 ASCAP Screen Music Awards". www.ascap.com. Archived from the original on May 29, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
^ Chalk, Andy (November 13, 2018). "The Game Awards 2018 nominations have been announced". PC Gamer. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
^ "Music". Lena Raine. Archived from the original on April 12, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2020 – via Bandcamp.
^ Rugoff, Lazlo (August 25, 2020). "Anastasia Kristensen, Yamaneko and more rework Lena Raine on new remix album, Reknowing". The Vinyl Factory. Archived from the original on October 11, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
^ "Lena Raine". Billboard. Penske Media Corporation. September 21, 2019. Archived from the original on February 14, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
^ Östergård, Adrian (April 8, 2020). "Minecraft Snapshot 20w15a". Minecraft.net. Archived from the original on April 8, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
^ "DELTARUNE Status Update – Sept 2021". deltarune.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
^ Östergård, Adrian (October 20, 2021). "Minecraft Snapshot 21w42a". Minecraft.net. Archived from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
^ "Moonglow Bay | About the Team". Moonglow Bay. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
^ Ostergard, Adrian (April 19, 2022). "MINECRAFT SNAPSHOT 22W16B". minecraft.net. Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
^ "Harmony: The Fall of Reverie". DON'T NOD. Archived from the original on June 28, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
^ "Earthblade: The Vibe Reveal". Extremely OK Games, Ltd. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
^ "ESC by Radical Dreamland". itch.io. Archived from the original on May 17, 2022. Retrieved May 17, 2022.

External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lena Raine.

Official website

Extremely OK Games

Games

TowerFall
Earthblade (canceled)

Celeste	Celeste Celeste 64: Fragments of the Mountain

People

Related

Madeline

Minecraft

Minecraft

General	Music Volume Alpha End Poem Minecraft Live Modding Speedrunning
Characters	Steve Creeper
People	Markus Persson (Notch) Jens Bergensten (Jeb) C418 Kristoffer Zetterstrand Julian Gough Lena Raine
Servers	2b2t Autcraft Blockeley Dream SMP Hypixel MC Championship Mineplex Skyblock The Uncensored Library Wynncraft
Spin-offs	Minecraft: Story Mode (2015) Minecraft Earth (2019) Minecraft Dungeons (2020) Minecraft Legends (2023)

Other media

Books	Minecraft (book) (2013) Minecraft: The Island (2017) Minecraft: The Manga (2020)
Films	Minecraft: The Story of Mojang (2012) A Minecraft Movie (2025) soundtrack "Steve's Lava Chicken"

Impact

Initiatives	Block by Block Build the Earth Greenfield
Merchandising	Amiibo Lego Minecraft
In popular culture	"G.U.Y." "Informative Murder Porn" Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Far Lands or Bust Herobrine Wonder Quest "Minecraft Multiplayer Fun" The Three-Body Problem in Minecraft Gameknight999 Trayaurus and the Enchanted Crystal Animation vs. Minecraft Shorts Oasis ZAMination

Category