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Malukah
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Malukah | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Malukah |
| Born | Judith de los Santos 1982 (age 43–44) |
| Origin | Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico |
| Genres | Pop rock |
| Occupations | Singer, songwriter, composer |
| Instruments | Guitar, Piano, Percussion |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | Materia Collective, independent |
| Website | www |
Judith de los Santos (born 1982), known professionally as Malukah, is a Mexican composer and singer-songwriter known for her cover versions of music from video games or TV series and movies, which she publishes on YouTube. She became known to an international audience when a video of her cover of the song The Dragonborn Comes from the game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim became a viral video in November 2011.[1] Since then she has contributed to several video game soundtracks, composed and produced original music, and performed live.
Career
[edit]Early career and education
[edit]Being a gamer since childhood, Judith de los Santos grew up with gaming related music. She started writing songs and singing at the age of 15,[2] took guitar, piano and percussion lessons[3] to later study at the Berklee College of Music. She graduated in 2005 with a dual major in Music Production and Engineering and Film Scoring with her debut album All of the Above.[4]
YouTube and video game soundtracks
[edit]In November 2011, shortly after the release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, her cover version of the game's song The Dragonborn Comes went viral. The video was reposted on the IGN YouTube channel as well as gaming-related websites and became quickly popular.[5] The original video on her own channel has over 27 million views, while the version on IGN's channel has over 18 million views by February 2025.[6][7] This and other popular videos, including songs set to music from the Mass Effect, Halo and The Witcher game series[8][9][10] helped her to obtain work in the video game industry.
She was commissioned to provide vocals for songs for the game Call of Duty: Black Ops II in 2012,[11][12] The Banner Saga franchise (collaborating with Austin Wintory, Taylor Davis and Peter Hollens).[13][14] In 2014, she composed and sang the ingame NPC bard songs[15] and the end credits song Beauty of Dawn for the MMORPG Elder Scrolls Online.[16][17] She was invited to be a part of an upcoming symphony project by video game composer Jeremy Soule, The Northerner.[18] She provided vocals for music in the short film The Forge, collaborating with Austin Wintory and Tina Guo.[19] She worked with Peter Hollens on a cover version of the Civilization IV Theme (originally composed by Christopher Tin) Baba Yetu.[20] Together they also worked on a cover of Lullaby of Woe, a song from the Witcher 3 soundtrack. Her vocals were featured in the song Outside the Realm in the 2nd season Stranger Things soundtrack.[21] The song was originally composed by Big Giant Circles for the video game There Came an Echo and was reused as thematic music for this purpose. She also worked with Miracle of Sound on his popular song Legends of the Frost based on the video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. She is featured on the Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 soundtrack. She provided vocal effects for the game Far Cry Primal working with BAFTA award-winning composer Jason Graves.[22] Recently, she contributed to the soundtracks of the video games Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and the PlayStation 4 Virtual reality game Moss.[23][24] She and other musicians were invited by CD Projekt musical director Marcin Przybyłowicz to participate in a music video that recreates The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt main theme to celebrate the game's 5th anniversary in 2020.[25] Lately, she contributed vocals to music to the game The Pathless, worked on vocal editing in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War for the song Alone, and contributed both vocals and vocal editing for multiple tracks in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. [26][27][28][29][30]
Key Information
Live performances, streaming and original music
[edit]She performed the Halo tribute song Frozen Sleep at the Halo Global Championships 2013 at PAX Prime.[1] Furthermore, she performed video game music at SXSW[31] and The Game Awards. She was a guest performer at the Video Games Live E3 concert 2014 in Los Angeles[32][33] and in her hometown Monterrey in 2016. She was invited to sing at The Elder Scrolls Online tavern community event during Gamescom 2018 in Cologne, Germany.[34] She performed at the Argentina Game Show in Buenos Aires in 2019[35][36] and the CES 2020 in Las Vegas.[37]
Malukah streamed as a partnered streamer on Twitch for almost 1,000 hours between 2016 and 2020, having reached 662,000 views and 38,800 followers in the music & performing arts and gaming category. Since 2020, she focused live streaming on YouTube.
In 2019, she released her latest original album I Follow the Moon.
Style and genre
[edit]Her two original albums mostly cover the genres Pop rock or Folk rock. Collaborations with other musicians like Sonic Mayhem or Headhunterz are influenced by electronic music. Her contributions to the Call of Duty: Black Ops games cover the genre of Heavy Metal. The video game contributions, movie related originals, covers and medleys can be classified as fantasy folk rock or fantasy music. Her covers are influenced by music set to games like Mass Effect, The Elder Scrolls, The Witcher, Halo and Destiny, movies like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings or TV series like Game of Thrones. Recent releases mainly consist of cover works and single releases to various original songs (e.g. Hallelujah, Sound of Silence). The most gaming-related soundtracks include [clarification needed]Answers from Final Fantasy XIV, Nostalgia from the 2022 video game Asterigos: Curse of the Stars by Composer WeiFan Chang) and the cover of Living on The Rooftops from Dying Light 2.
Her vocal range can be considered as alto.
Discography
[edit]Original albums
[edit]- All of the Above (self-published album, 2006)[38]
- I Follow the Moon (2019)
Featured work
[edit]- Forget the Lines, Secret (both songs from: Acoustic Cafe Series, Vol.1, 2009)
- Reignite (Headhunterz ft. Malukah, 2012)
- Legends of the Frost (Miracle of Sound, ft. Malukah, 2012)
- Bleed Forever (in: Doomsday, Sonic Mayhem ft. Malukah, 2015)
- World of Warcraft: Malach, Angel Messenger (in: Video Games Level 5, 2016)
- Al Fin (from: Song Planet, 2016)
- One More Time (from: Days of Tomorrow, R. Armando Morabito, 2017)
Cover related albums/singles
[edit]- The Dragonborn Comes (2017)
- Reignite, a tribute to Mass Effect, single, released by Materia Collective (2020)
- Lullaby of Woe (from: The Witcher 3, ft. work with Peter Hollens, 2020)
- Good Riddance (ft. work with Peter Hollens, 2021)
- Come little children (single, cover, 2021)
Video game soundtrack contributions
[edit]| Year | Game | Song(s) | Contribution | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Call of Duty: Black Ops II | Where Are We Going?, Always Running, Archangel | vocals | [39] |
| 2012 | Journey | Journey Waltz | vocals | [40] |
| 2013 | The Banner Saga | Onward | vocals & lyrics | [41] |
| 2014 | The Elder Scrolls Online | End credits: Beauty of Dawn
Bard songs: Battle of Glenumbra Moors, Chim-El Adabal The Coldharbour Compact, Hymn to Kyne, Ithguleoir, Ode to Queen Ayrenn, Over the Seas and Far Away, The Plane Meld, Stagger and Sway, Three Hearts as One |
composer, vocals
& lyrics |
[15][16][17] |
| 2015 | There Came an Echo | There Came An Echo Theme, Waiting For Fire | vocals | [42] |
| 2015 | Sunset | Esperanza En Duelo, Eres Mi Vela (both Spanish traditional) | vocals & lyrics | [43] |
| 2015 | Monaco | What Yours Is Mine | vocals | [44] |
| 2015 | Call of Duty: Black Ops III | Zombie Menu Music, Dead Flowers
Dead Again, Dead Ended, The Gift |
vocals
vocal editor |
[45] |
| 2016 | Far Cry Primal | ingame/soundtrack female character voice-acting (shouts) | vocals | [46] |
| 2016 | The Banner Saga 2 | Our Steps, To The Night | lyrics & vocals | [47] |
| 2017 | Lone Echo | Ready at Dawn | vocals | [48] |
| 2018 | The Banner Saga 3 | Only Few Remember It Now | vocals | [49] |
| 2018 | Moss | Home To Me | vocals | [50] |
| 2018 | Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 | Where Are We Going? (updated version), Drowning
Mystery, Shockwave, Drowning, Stormbound, I Am The Well |
vocals
vocal editor |
[51] |
| 2020 | The Pathless | A land, which was not my own (choir) | vocals | [26] |
| 2020 | Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War | Alone | vocal editor | [52][27] |
| 2024 | Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 | Can You Hear Me? (Come in), Falling to Pieces
Can You Hear Me? (Come in), Destroy Something Beautiful |
vocals
vocal editor |
[28][29][30] |
TV soundtrack contributions
[edit]- Panic Nation (2010, lyricist, composer)
- The Forge (short film, 2013, feat. vocals)
- Outside the Realm (feat. vocals), Stranger Things (Season 2, episodes 02 and 07)
Collaborations
[edit]Malukah's collaborations usually involve other YouTube musicians like singer Peter Hollens or violinist Taylor Davis. For her video game contributions, she repeatedly worked with the composers Austin Wintory and Jason Graves.[40][50][53] Further collaborations involved musicians like Elena Siegman, Tina Guo and Kevin Sherwood.[45][51] Most noted were her collaborations with ZeniMax Online Studios for the bard songs and end credits song of The Elder Scrolls Online and with Treyarch for the Call of Duty: Black Ops franchise, contributing to several of the Zombie easter egg songs.
Awards
[edit]- Winner of the 10th Unisong International Song Contest 2005 (Everything)[54]
- Two wins in the Rock category at the 16th LA Music Awards as female singer-songwriter of the year (Everything) and female vocalist of the year (I can't make it rain), and another nomination in Rock category for best album (All of the Above) in 2006.[2]
Trivia
[edit]- Malukah is known to sing in various real and fantasy languages. For parts of her cover versions from The Elder Scrolls franchise, she sang in dragon language, Dragon-tongue. For her cover version of Priscilla's song from the game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, she sang one verse in Polish as a tribute to the country, where The Witcher franchise has originated.[55] For The Banner Saga soundtrack she sang in Icelandic.[56] For the Civilization IV theme Baba Yetu she sang in Swahili.[57] For the cover The Fields of Ard Skellig, a song from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt original soundtrack, she sang in Gaelic.[58]
- Her bard songs can be listened to in-game performed by several bard NPCs in The Elder Scrolls Online.
- A NPC with the name of Malukah Lightsong was introduced with the Patch 6.2.0 in the video game World of Warcraft.[59]
- She wrote a self-published short novel called The Stolen Pendant.[60]
- The Skyrim modding community has added her Dragonborn cover to various game mods.[61]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "From 'Dragon Age' to 'Skyrim,' singer gives new life to video game music". The Daily Dot. 26 December 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
- ^ a b "Summit Songs Presents: Bio | Broadjam.com". Broadjam. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ^ "Interview with Malukah – gamers' favorite musician and composer". Gamepressure.com. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ "YouTube Skyrim cover phenom Malukah on epic music and playing WoW". Engadget. 20 September 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
- ^ "Cover Of Skyrim Theme Will Send A Chill Through Your Bones". Kotaku. 2 December 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ Skyrim: The Dragonborn Comes – Female Cover by Malukah, 3 December 2011, retrieved 10 February 2020
- ^ "The Dragonborn Comes – Skyrim Bard Song and Main Theme Female Cover by Malukah". YouTube. 29 November 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- ^ Kenreck, Todd (27 April 2012). "'Mass Effect' gets haunting new tribute song". NBC News. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
- ^ Co, Alex (16 December 2012). "Halo 4: Cortana Gets "Frozen Sleep" Tribute Song". Gameranx. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- ^ "The Witcher: No puedes perderte esta preciosa cover de la canción de Priscilla". Alfa Beta Juega (in Spanish). 9 January 2016. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- ^ Martin, John Llewellyn (3 July 2013). "Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Trailer: Get Buried in the Music". ScreenCrush. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
- ^ "Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 'Vengeance' DLC out now for PC and PS3, time to hit up the haunted Old West". Neoseeker. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- ^ "Malukah Medley Pays Tribute to The Banner Saga". The Escapist Magazine. 12 February 2014. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
- ^ "The Banner Saga Series Soundtrack Gets Discussed in New Video". DualShockers. 21 July 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
- ^ a b "Creating ESO: Music". The Elder Scrolls Online. 26 February 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ a b Pitcher, Jenna (24 April 2013). "ZeniMax worked with Malukah to create The Elder Scrolls Online-inspired song". Polygon. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ a b "'Skyrim' cover artist writes new song for 'The Elder Scrolls Online'". NBC News. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "Update 22: Notation of the Symphony · From the Composer of Skyrim – Soule Symphony No. 1". Kickstarter. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
- ^ "For Anybody Hurting". Mashable. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
- ^ "YouTube Musicians Peter Hollens and Malukah Release Cover Version of Civ IV's Baba Yetu | The Escapist". www.escapistmagazine.com. Archived from the original on 31 August 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ Wood, Austin (1 November 2017). "Stranger Things season two features a song from this voice-controlled indie strategy game". PC Gamer. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "Composing Far Cry Primal: an interview with Jason Graves". GodisaGeek.com. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
- ^ Vincent, Brittany (6 December 2018). "'Call of Duty: Black Ops 4' Official Soundtrack Includes Jazz, Children's Choir". Variety. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
- ^ Remington, Kate (19 April 2018). "Jason Graves' Mouse-Sized Music For Moss". www.wshu.org. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ Sheridan, Connor (19 May 2020). "Celebrate The Witcher 3 fifth anniversary with this new take on the theme". gamesradar. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
- ^ a b "The Pathless, by Austin Wintory". Austin Wintory. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- ^ a b Osorio, Nica (20 November 2020). "'Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War' Die Maschine Hack: How To Unlock Secret Music". International Business Times. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
- ^ a b Kevin Sherwood (24 October 2024). Can You Hear Me? (Come in) - [OFFICIAL] - Megan Rice - lyrics - Terminus song. Retrieved 28 April 2025 – via YouTube.
- ^ a b Kevin Sherwood (24 October 2024). Destroy Something Beautiful [OFFICIAL] - Cristina Scabbia - lyrics - Liberty Falls song. Retrieved 28 April 2025 – via YouTube.
- ^ a b Kevin Sherwood (2 April 2025). Falling To Pieces [OFFICIAL] - Malukah - lyrics - Shattered Veil. Retrieved 28 April 2025 – via YouTube.
- ^ Corriea, Alexa Ray (11 February 2013). "The Elder Scrolls Online food truck tour to stop at 11 major events and universities this year". Polygon. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "Video Games live". www.videogameslive.com. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
- ^ Assassin; scoundrel; Honcho, Head (6 June 2014). "Video Games Live E3 concert to feature Malukah, Peter Hollens and Mystery Guitar Man". Nerd Reactor. Archived from the original on 16 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
- ^ "ESO Tavern: The ESO Team wants to meet you in Cologne". www.elderscrollsonline.com. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
- ^ "Malukah presentará un show acústico de videojuegos – Novedades – Argentina Game Show Coca-Cola For Me 2019". Malukah presentará un show acústico de videojuegos – Novedades – Argentina Game Show Coca-Cola For Me 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "La Argentina Game Show: la fiesta de los videojuegos que reunió 35 mil personas". VOS (in Spanish). 20 October 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
- ^ "CES 2020: Logitech apoya a la comunidad de streaming". Tecnología 21: Notas de Prensa (in Spanish). 7 January 2020. Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
- ^ "Berklee Today – Berklee College of Music". www.berklee.edu. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
- ^ "News – Your Next DLC is". Co-Optimus. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ a b "In The Bleak Midwinter: How Composer Austin Wintory Brought Stoic Beauty to The Banner Saga". GameSpot. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- ^ Evil, Versus. "Award Winning Video Game, The Banner Saga Launches On PlayStation 4 And Xbox One Today". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- ^ "[Review] There Came an Echo". ShouraiLive. 24 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ^ Huynh, Christopher (5 June 2015). "Sunset". www.vgmonline.net/. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
- ^ Reese, Emily. "Austin Wintory and Monaco: What's Yours is Mine". www.thecurrent.org. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ^ a b "Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 DLC 1–3 Review Recap". Broken Joysticks. 30 August 2016. Archived from the original on 31 August 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- ^ Ferris, Joey (8 March 2016). "Far Cry Primal composer Jason Graves on death whistles and prehistoric drumsets". Nerd Reactor. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- ^ "The Best Video Game Music Of 2016". Kotaku. January 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- ^ "'Lone Echo' Composer Jason Graves on Scoring VR Games and Exploring the Relationship Between Humans and Technology". Sound & Picture. 25 October 2017. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
- ^ "Stoic Releases a New Video About Banner Saga 3's Soundtrack". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. 22 July 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ a b "Three Songs From Moss Soundtrack Released, Includes 'Home to Me'". PlayStation LifeStyle. 30 March 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
- ^ a b "Black Ops 4 Voyage of Despair Music Easter Egg – Medusa Coin Locations". GameRevolution. 15 October 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "Alone [OFFICIAL] - Clark S. Nova - lyrics - Die Maschine song - YouTube". www.youtube.com. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
- ^ Remington, Kate (17 August 2017). "Music Respawn! Jason Graves: Minimal Music For Lone Echo's Deep Space & Arena Fun In Lawbreakers". www.wshu.org. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
- ^ Unisong Grand Prize Winner Judith de los Santos trip, 24 June 2008, retrieved 28 October 2019
- ^ "Wiedźmin 3: Dziki Gon – Posłuchajcie "Wilczej zamieci" w aranżacji Malukah". Planetagracza.pl (in Polish). 31 December 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "Vocals for The Banner Saga". Malukah. 15 January 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "So THAT'S What They're Saying In Civ IV's Intro". Kotaku. 20 August 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "The Fields of Ard Skellig (cover)". YouTube.com. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ "Malukah Lightsong". Wowpedia. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
- ^ "The Stolen Pendant by Malukah". Goodreads. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
- ^ "The mods you need to play as a bard in Skyrim (and make it look awesome)". Softonic. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Malukah on Twitch
- Malukah's YouTube channel
- Malukah's Patreon page
- Interview with Malukah
Malukah
View on GrokipediaEarly life and education
Childhood and musical beginnings
Judith de los Santos was born in 1982 in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico.[9] De los Santos grew up in a musical household where her mother, a skilled pianist, played a pivotal role in fostering her passion for music. Inspired by her mother's playing, she began taking piano lessons at the age of eight and later expanded her skills to include drums, percussion, and guitar, with the guitar emerging as her favorite instrument. These early lessons laid the groundwork for her self-taught exploration of songwriting and performance.[10][11] By her mid-teens, around age 15, de los Santos started composing original songs as a means to reflect on and process life experiences, marking the beginning of her creative pursuits. She honed her craft through informal local performances, playing her guitar and singing solo at coffee shops and small bars in Monterrey. Her budding interest in video games during her youth also sparked a fascination with game soundtracks, blending her hobbies with her musical development. These formative experiences culminated in the compilation of her debut album, All of the Above, featuring songs written primarily during her teenage years.[10][12]Berklee College of Music
Malukah, born Judith de los Santos, enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she pursued a rigorous education tailored to her interests in music creation for visual media. She graduated in 2005 with dual majors in Music Production and Engineering and Film Scoring. These programs equipped her with technical proficiency in recording, mixing, and composing for cinematic contexts, emphasizing hands-on studio work and orchestration techniques essential for multimedia scoring.[3] During her studies, Malukah engaged in collaborative projects that honed her production skills, including a standout team effort in Shure's inaugural Fantastic Scholastic Recording Competition in 2005. As part of a five-student Berklee ensemble, she contributed to producing, recording, and mixing a performance using Shure microphones, demonstrating innovative mic placement and ensemble coordination under faculty guidance. This victory not only earned her a KSM27 microphone but also marked an early milestone in applying her engineering coursework to real-world audio challenges. Additionally, around this time, she released her debut album All of the Above, recorded with Berklee faculty and featuring student and alumni performers, showcasing her emerging songwriting and production abilities.[13][14] Her film scoring classes at Berklee profoundly influenced her affinity for game music, as the curriculum's focus on syncing music to visuals and evoking emotional narratives mirrored the interactive demands of video game soundtracks. Inspired by composers like Jeremy Soule, whose work on The Elder Scrolls series she later covered, Malukah developed a passion for epic, orchestral styles during these courses. This foundation directly shaped her post-graduation pursuits, including entering songwriting contests that built on her academic training in composition and production.[11]Career
YouTube breakthrough and covers
Malukah launched her YouTube channel, @malufenix, in 2011, initially uploading covers that received modest viewership of around 300 per video.[11] Her breakthrough occurred on November 29, 2011, with the release of "The Dragonborn Comes," a female vocal cover blending the Skyrim bard song and main theme, which quickly went viral and amassed over 27 million views on her channel as of 2025.[4] The video's success was amplified by media coverage, including a music video produced by IGN featuring in-game Skyrim footage set to her rendition, which highlighted her haunting vocal style and contributed to widespread recognition within gaming circles.[15] In producing early covers like "The Dragonborn Comes," Malukah handled recording, engineering, and mixing herself, drawing on her Berklee College of Music training in music production and film scoring.[11] She detailed the process in a 2014 tutorial video, demonstrating step-by-step vocal and guitar recording using software like Logic Pro, followed by EQ adjustments—such as boosting low frequencies for warmth in vocals and cutting muddiness in guitar tracks—to achieve a polished, atmospheric sound suitable for video game-inspired arrangements.[16] This self-reliant approach allowed her to create immersive covers that resonated with fans, emphasizing emotional depth over complex orchestration. The viral impact of the Skyrim cover propelled her channel's growth, transforming modest beginnings into a dedicated following in gaming communities, particularly among Elder Scrolls enthusiasts who praised her as a "gamers' favorite female voice."[10] By 2016, she had surpassed 480,000 subscribers, a figure that continued to rise to approximately 696,000 by 2025, fueled by shares in forums and social media within video game fandoms.[17] This momentum led her to expand beyond Skyrim, producing covers for other titles like The Witcher series, including "Priscilla's Song (The Wolven Storm)" in December 2015, which further solidified her presence in broader RPG communities.[18]Soundtrack contributions
Malukah's first major soundtrack contribution came in 2012 with Call of Duty: Black Ops II, where she provided lead vocals for several hidden Easter egg songs in the Zombies mode, including "Where Are We Going" from the Mob of the Dead map and "Always Running" from the Buried map. These tracks, composed by Kevin Sherwood, marked her entry into official video game soundtracks and were integrated as unlockable audio experiences within the game's multiplayer content. Her involvement stemmed from a commission by Treyarch, highlighting her vocal style in blending ethereal and intense tones suitable for the mode's narrative-driven horror elements.[19] In 2014, Malukah contributed original compositions and performances to The Elder Scrolls Online, creating multiple in-game bard songs that enhanced the game's immersive world-building. Notable examples include "Beauty of Dawn," the end-credits song she wrote and sang, drawing from Tamriel's lore to evoke themes of unity and dawn's renewal, and other bard performances like "Three Hearts As One" and "Hymn to Kyne," which players encounter through NPC bards in taverns across the game's provinces. These pieces were developed in collaboration with Zenimax Online Studios, where she focused on authentic folk-inspired melodies using acoustic instruments to fit the MMORPG's medieval fantasy setting. Her work continued with ESO through updates, providing ongoing vocal and lyrical elements that players could interact with dynamically.[20][21] Malukah contributed to the Call of Duty series with Black Ops 6 (2024), delivering vocals for the Zombies mode, including "Falling To Pieces" from the 2025 Shattered Veil DLC Easter egg, composed by Kevin Sherwood and featuring her layered harmonies over industrial rock arrangements. This contribution built on her earlier Call of Duty roles, emphasizing her ability to convey emotional depth amid high-stakes action sequences.[22] Throughout her career, Malukah has collaborated closely with composers on soundtrack integrations, often providing custom vocals, lyrics, and production input to align with narrative needs. A key partnership is with BAFTA-winning composer Jason Graves, beginning with Far Cry Primal (2016), where she supplied vocals including primal chants, war cries, and whispers that immersed players in the Stone Age world. This process typically involves iterative sessions—reviewing game footage, composing demos, and refining performances in studios to match pacing and emotional beats— as seen in later works like Moss (2018), with the credits song "Home to Me," and No Rest for the Wicked (2024), featuring her on the trailer track "We Prayed for Summer." These collaborations underscore her role in bridging vocal artistry with interactive media, ensuring songs enhance gameplay without overpowering it.[5]Live performances and original music
Malukah has performed at several prominent video game industry events, showcasing her vocal talents in live settings. In 2013, she debuted on stage at PAX Prime in Seattle, where she performed her Halo tribute song "Frozen Sleep" during Microsoft's Halo 4 Global Championship.[23] That same year, she joined The Elder Scrolls Online promotional tour at SXSW in Austin, delivering a live performance at the ESO Food Truck event to engage fans with immersive game-inspired music.[24] Her rising profile from YouTube covers led to further invitations, including a 2014 appearance at The Game Awards in Las Vegas, where she collaborated with composer Austin Wintory and violinist Taylor Davis for a live orchestral rendition of video game tracks at the Axis Theater.[25] In 2018, she performed at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, as a guest at The Elder Scrolls Online Tavern community event, singing bard-style songs to celebrate the game's lore and community.[26] Beyond traditional stages, Malukah built a dedicated streaming presence on Twitch starting in 2016, where she hosted nearly 1,000 hours of interactive sessions blending music performances, fan requests, and casual gaming until 2020, amassing over 662,000 views and 38,800 followers in the music category.[27] These streams fostered a close-knit community through real-time engagement, such as collaborative song choices and Q&A segments, evolving into her annual ReverbCon events that highlighted fan-voted sets.[28] Following Twitch's partnership changes, she transitioned to Patreon in 2020 for exclusive live content, maintaining interactive virtual sessions that emphasize personal connections with supporters. Malukah's original music output reflects a gradual shift from cover work toward independent compositions, beginning with her debut album All of the Above in 2006, self-released under her birth name Judith de los Santos as a collection of pop-influenced tracks exploring themes of emotion and introspection, produced independently in Mexico.[12] After focusing on covers for over a decade, she returned to originals with I Follow the Moon in 2019, an album recorded in Monterrey, Mexico, and co-produced with Rodrigo "Bucho" Montfort alongside a team of local musicians; it delves into reflective themes of memory, time's passage, and personal growth, inspired by stargazing and life's fleeting moments.[29][7] This evolution continued post-2020 through virtual concerts on platforms like YouTube and Patreon, where she hosts monthly live performances featuring original songs alongside fan favorites, adapting to remote formats with interactive elements like real-time dedications during events such as her 2022 Ukraine fundraiser concert.[30] As of 2025, she continues this tradition with regular YouTube-streamed concerts, including performances in January, June, October, and November.[31]Musical style
Genres and influences
Malukah's music primarily spans pop rock and folk rock genres, particularly in her original albums. Her debut album All of the Above (2006) features original pop/rock songs, showcasing a produced sound with rock instrumentation and melodic structures. Similarly, her 2019 album I Follow the Moon incorporates folk rock elements, blending acoustic textures with rock arrangements to create introspective, narrative-driven tracks.[32] In her video game-related work, Malukah integrates fantasy elements, often evoking epic, otherworldly atmospheres through lyrical themes and orchestral flourishes inspired by immersive soundscapes. Her acoustic covers, such as "The Dragonborn Comes" from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, emphasize folk traditions with harp and guitar, capturing a bardic, mythical essence that aligns with the fantasy genre's storytelling roots. These pieces highlight her affinity for acoustic folk as her foundational style, where she feels most comfortable, while adapting to orchestral and cinematic demands in game contributions.[11] Malukah's influences draw heavily from video game composers and broader folk-orchestral artists. She cites Jeremy Soule, known for the Elder Scrolls series soundtracks, as a major inspiration for epic, harmonious compositions that blend orchestral depth with emotional resonance. Austin Wintory's work on Journey also shapes her approach to narrative-driven scoring, emphasizing atmospheric and exploratory elements. Additionally, Lisbeth Scott's peaceful, folk-infused albums influence her vocal-centric, serene folk expressions. Her early exposure to film soundtracks, like those from Star Wars, further informs her cinematic style.[11] Across projects, Malukah adapts her style fluidly: acoustic folk dominates her stripped-down covers for intimacy and accessibility, while produced pop rock energizes her originals with fuller production and rhythmic drive. She blends genres innovatively, incorporating electronic elements in collaborations, such as the hardstyle track "Reignite" with Headhunterz, which fuses her folk vocals with high-energy synths and beats. Similarly, her contribution to Sonic Mayhem's "Bleed Forever" on the Doomsday EP merges folk singing with electro-industrial synths, creating ominous, game-like textures reminiscent of film scoring. This versatility allows her to extend stylistic range while maintaining a core folk-rock identity.[33][34]Vocal approach and multilingual work
Malukah's vocal style is characterized by an ethereal and evocative delivery that lends itself particularly well to fantasy-themed compositions, creating a hauntingly beautiful resonance that transports listeners into immersive worlds. This approach allows her to seamlessly transition from soft, introspective ballads to more powerful, anthemic expressions, emphasizing emotional depth over technical showmanship.[11] As a native Spanish speaker who became fluent in English through bilingual education and her studies at Berklee College of Music, Malukah demonstrates proficiency in multiple languages, extending to fantasy constructs like the Dragon-tongue from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and real-world ones such as Polish and Icelandic. In her cover of "The Wolven Storm (Priscilla's Song)" from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, she incorporates Polish for a verse as a tribute to the game's Polish origins, noting the language's challenges but appreciating its phonetic fit for the melody's emotional narrative of unrequited love. Similarly, for The Banner Saga, she co-wrote lyrics for the end-credits song "Onward" that were translated into Icelandic to align with the game's Viking-inspired lore, enhancing the piece's sense of ancient resolve and journey. Her original Skyrim bard song "Vokul Fen Mah" features half its lyrics in Dragon-tongue (Dovahzul), including the shout "JOOR-ZAH-FRUL," to authentically evoke the game's draconic mythology while blending with English for accessibility. These multilingual choices amplify the emotional impact by grounding performances in cultural or fictional authenticity, fostering a deeper connection to the source material's themes of heroism and longing.[35][36][37][38] Malukah frequently employs techniques such as multi-layered harmonies and a cappella elements to build texture and intensity in her recordings, often multi-tracking her own voice to simulate choral effects suited to epic soundscapes. This method is evident in her a cappella contributions to The Banner Saga, where vocal layering underscores the saga's themes of perseverance without instrumental support. Her adaptations prioritize lore fidelity, such as phonetically crafting Dragon-tongue phrases to maintain rhythmic flow and emotional weight, ensuring the vocals feel integral to the game's fantastical atmosphere rather than superimposed.[37][10]Discography
Original albums and singles
Malukah's debut album, All of the Above, was self-released on August 16, 2006, as a collection of original pop/rock songs she composed during her early adulthood.[12] The album captures themes of personal introspection, reflecting specific life moments from that period, including emotional highs and lows such as fleeting happiness and hesitation in relationships.[12] Recorded with contributions from musician friends, it features Malukah on vocals and was later shared publicly due to encouragement from her growing YouTube community.[12] The tracklist includes:| No. | Title | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fairytale | 3:20 |
| 2 | High | 3:04 |
| 3 | Happy | 3:17 |
| 4 | Everything | 3:17 |
| 5 | I Can't Make It Rain | 4:00 |
| 6 | Hesitation | 3:49 |
| 7 | Covered in Red | 3:45 |
| 8 | Fear Front | 3:28 |
| 9 | Homesick Insomniac | 4:12 |
| 10 | All of the Above | 3:55 |
| No. | Title | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I Follow the Moon | 4:03 | |
| 2 | Bringing Me Down | 3:18 | |
| 3 | Running From, Running From | 3:26 | |
| 4 | I Gotta Leave | 3:57 | |
| 5 | In the Darkness (feat. KSherwoodOps) | 4:12 | |
| 6 | You Make It Easy | 3:45 | |
| 7 | Safe Asleep | 3:32 | Lullaby-like |
| 8 | Duele Tanto | 3:58 | In Spanish |
| 9 | The Weight of the World | 4:05 | |
| 10 | (Untitled instrumental) | 2:15 | |
| 11 | I Yearn to Belong | 4:20 |
Cover albums and singles
Malukah's cover work primarily reinterprets music from video games and films through acoustic arrangements featuring her vocals accompanied by guitar, contrasting the originals' orchestral scores. Her first major cover release was the album The Dragonborn Comes, a collection of nine tracks drawn from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim soundtrack composed by Jeremy Soule. Self-released on August 25, 2017, the album compiles medleys and individual songs originally popularized via her YouTube channel, remixed into intimate, bard-like performances that evoke the game's Nordic folklore themes. A remastered edition was released on July 12, 2024.[44][45][46] The track listing for The Dragonborn Comes includes:| Track | Title | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Awake | 1:57 | Medley incorporating ambient Skyrim motifs |
| 2 | The Dragonborn Comes | 2:01 | Signature bard song cover |
| 3 | Age of Aggression | 2:10 | Battle theme adaptation |
| 4 | Ragnar the Red | 1:43 | Tavern folk song rendition |
| 5 | Vokul Fen Mah | 2:58 | Original dragon chant-inspired piece |
| 6 | Age of Oppression / Unbroken Road | 3:12 | Dual-theme medley |
| 7 | Far Horizons / Night Theme | 3:05 | Exploratory and nocturnal fusion |
| 8 | Tales of the Tongues / Secunda | 3:18 | Linguistic and celestial elements |
| 9 | Dragonborn (Main Theme) | 2:45 | Epic closing orchestral reinterpretation |
| Track | Title | Duration | Source Material |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Fields of Ard Skellig (Remastered 2022) | 2:38 | The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt |
| 2 | The Dragonborn Comes (Remastered 2022) | 2:02 | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim |
| 3 | Reignite (Remastered 2022) | 3:21 | Mass Effect trilogy |
| 4 | Frozen Sleep (Remastered 2022) | 3:05 | Halo 4 (Cortana tribute) |
| 5 | Misty Mountains (Remastered 2022) | 2:51 | The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey |
| 6 | The Wolven Storm (Priscilla's Song) (Remastered 2022) | 3:25 | The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt |
| 7 | The Bard's Song: In the Forest (Remastered 2022) | 3:21 | Blind Guardian (fantasy-inspired) |
| 8 | Baba Yetu (Remastered 2022) | 2:58 | Civilization IV |
| 9 | Dusk Till Dawn (Remastered 2022) | 3:15 | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim |
| 10 | Silver for Monsters (Remastered 2022) | 3:10 | The Witcher series |
| 11 | Unwritten (Remastered 2022) | 3:45 | Natasha Bedingfield (media adaptation) |
| 12 | Dragonborn (Remastered 2022) | 2:45 | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim |