What songs are on the Arcane League of Legends soundtrack? Like every other creative element of the LoL series, Arcane’s soundtrack was built from scratch specifically for the show.
Featuring incredible artists, music producers, and showrunner Christian Linke’s talents, there’s so much behind every one of Arcane‘s songs. Some were purpose-built for the best Arcane characters, some are made to give energy to the most action-oriented scenes in one of the best Netflix series, and one even boasts Sting.
This is every song in the Arcane soundtrack ranked, links to listen for free, as well as cool details we learned from the making-of documentary ‘Bridging the Rift Part 4 – musical misfits’. We’ve got a while before the Arcane season 2 release date, so we’ve got time. Now, before we start… Every song is good. Last place means nothing when every track is a winner.
The Arcane League of Legends soundtrack list ranked:
- Enemy by Imagine Dragons and JID
- Dirty Little Animals by BONES UK
- Misfit Toys by Pusha T and Mako
- Snakes by Miyavi and PVRIS
- When Everything Went Wrong by Fantastic Negrito
- Playground by Bea Miller
- Dynasties and Dystopia by Denzel Curry, Gizzle and Bren Joy
- Our Love by Curtis Harding and Jazmine Sullivan
- Goodbye by Ramsey
- Guns for Hire by Woodkid
- What Could Have Been by Sting and Ray Chen
11. Enemy by Imagine Dragons, JID
When we first heard this over Arcane’s opening title sequence we were like, “‘Oh the misery,’ indeed.” By the ninth time, we were head-banging to an Imagine Dragons song in 2022. That’s the magic of being one of the best TV series — you have the power to change the culture.
Enemy underscores the broad strokes of the series, and how the search to prove competency can often seed distrust, disarray, and turn you into something else entirely.
10. Dirty Little Animals by Bones UK
Engineered by Sebastien Najand and Lyell Evans Roeder, Dirty Little Animals showcases the wilder side of the album and how wide-ranging it is.
The heart-pounding, electronic track is disorienting, blood-pumping, and loud no matter how far you turn the volume down. Every song is given space by the storyboard and editors during production, and Dirty Little Animals was designed for when we see shimmer being abused in Zaun. Makes sense, it sounds like something you’d hear in a seedy nightclub.
9. Misfit Toys by Pusha T and Mako
Fancy joining the Firelights? Misfit Toys is one of Ekko’s two big musical moments. The hip-hop track quips about Piltover’s ignorant politicians, the kids left unmoored by oppression, and the emotional activation of the characters in the group.
A track with a lot of distortion, the youthful energy to it fits perfectly with he spirit of the young activists.
8. Snakes by Miyavi and PVRIS
Miyavi is a Japanese guitarist, singer-songwriter, producer, and actor known for his finger-slapping style of playing the guitar, and with him on Snakes is the pop-punk band PVRIS. It only takes a few seconds upon hitting play to realize why Miyavi is known for his talent on the strings.
The scene this song corresponds to is the epic Jayce and Vi fight with the Chemtanks in one of Silco’s shimmer manufacturing plants, and its pacing gives way to highs and drops in the music.
7. When Everything Went Wrong by Fantastic Negrito
With its country vibes and jukebox style, When Everything Went Wrong scores the brawl between Vi and Sevika in the bar. Breaks in the song’s lyrics are utilized in-universe for the characters to grab a drink between rounds.
Fantastic Negrito is an American singer-songwriter whose music defies simple categorization. His album The Last Days of Oakland won a golden statue for Best Contemporary Blues Album at the 59th Grammy Awards, though, so it’s fair to say he’s proficient there.
6. Playground by Bea Miller
The moody and eclectic-sounding Playground is used to represent the descent into the Undercity, where “nightmares and fantasies” swirl and become a wasteland for lost souls.
In ‘Musical Misfits’ Najand said Miller “totally understood the vibe of what we trying to convey, descending into Zaun, and it was just perfect.” Right enough, Playground plays over Vi as she returns to her home. The dystopian soundscape of the song immediately tells you what you need to know about the Undercity.
5. Dynasties and Dystopia by Denzel Curry, Gizzle, and Bren Joy
Dynasties and Dystopia is sort of an Ekko song, in that it’s dripping with style, but its true purpose was its deployment during one of the most creative moments in the series by the animation team at Fortiche, the Ekko and Jinx altercation on the bridge.
With three rappers collaborating on the fast-paced track, it’s a bittersweet scene as we watch two of Arcane’s coolest characters tear into each other, their childhood friendship long in the past.
4. Our Love by Curtis Harding and Jazmine Sullivan
An anomaly on the dark soundtrack, Our Love evokes sunsets, cool breezes, and piña coladas. Written by Harding and Sam Cohen, Our Love imbues a special moment between Powder and Vander with warmth.
The youngster sits at his bar counter, listless, and he fixes her up a mocktail. It’s one of the small tender moments that make episode 3’s tragedy hit so hard.
3. Goodbye by Ramsey
On her Instagram, Ramsey describes herself as a “Self-produced, sinner/ songwriter based in Los Angeles.” Her echoey, spacious vocals lend themselves brilliantly to Goodbye, dredging up the emotional canyon that develops between Vi and her little sister in an instant.
It plays in the final moments of Arcane’s first act after Powder believes Vi has abandoned her. The lyrics (which you can read in the video’s description), structurally, are intriguing: the song opens with a traditional verse, uses bridges, but then repeats a couple of lines for the rest of the running time, perhaps in an effort to mimic Powder’s focus narrowing and her resolute decision to abandon her childhood.
2. Guns for Hire by Woodkid
Can we just not talk about this one? Oh, we have to? Right, it’s one of the deep cuts and masterworks on the soundtrack, we forgot. The problem is, Woodkid’s infinitely soulful vocals and the child-like hurt of the song make us feel bad inside!
Woodkid was originally circling another track, but heard this and knew he needed to be on it. We don’t disagree. Guns for Hire, which is a Jinx song (‘Tuck your innocence goodnight’, ‘Not a good time to lose control’) practically screams as the camera circles the troubled antagonist, the most horrific of her visual hallucinations tearing their way through the frames’ reality.
1. What Could Have Been by Sting and Ray Chen
The most moving track on the album, What Could Have Been brought in the big guns: Sting. His breathy delivery, the piano behind him, and the exquisite talents of violinist Ray Chen (a Los Angeles Philharmonic soloist) make it unforgettable. So much so, it was performed live at the 2021 Game Awards.
It’s an important track in the story, too, as it underscores the final moments of season 1 when Jinx decides there is no going back and that Vi can’t reconcile with who she has become. The song represents how she wants her pain to reverberate, and how her attack on Piltover’s council chamber is indicative of the irreparable state of her being.
Where can I listen to the Arcane League of Legends soundtrack?
All of the Arcane soundtrack songs can be listened to via YouTube videos for free, and you can also listen on Spotify, Apple Music, and other music streaming platforms with a subscription.
Now, let’s get into the fun stuff with fun facts about each song, and you can hit play on them right here. Composer Alex Temple, doing long-form narrative work for the first time in his career, as well as writers MAKO, Sebastien Najand, and many more behind the scenes created 11 unique tracks.
There you have it! Some of these we’d sing along to in the car, some we’d cry to in the shower. You’ve got to love that range. Until there’s more to add to this list, we have deep dives on the Arcane cast with Mel explained. Or, if you’re a LoL fan: who we want to see as Arcane season 2 League of Legends characters.
If you’d like answers to specifics, we’ve written about how did Jinx and Vi’s parents die in Arcane, is Arcane canon in League of Legends, and how old is Jinx in Arcane. Also, we have a fun story about how Henry Cavill loved Arcane. For something else, we’ve also got a list of everything new on Netflix and the new movies coming soon.