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Sea shanties are a signature atmospheric feature of Windrose. The player's NPC crew members sing traditional work songs of the sea while the ship is underway, turning long sailing stretches into moments of ambient storytelling. The original soundtrack and sea shanties were composed by Sean Dagher, whose work gives the game its distinctive musical identity.

Early press coverage consistently called out the shanties as one of the game's standout features. PC Gamer's reviewer wrote that "the boisterous sea shanties my crew sings keep me coming back for more."

What Are Sea Shanties

Sea shanties are traditional work songs sung by sailors aboard large merchant and naval vessels during the Age of Sail (roughly 16th to mid-19th centuries). They served practical purposes: coordinating team effort during repetitive tasks like hoisting sails, weighing anchor, or pumping bilges. A shantyman would lead with verses while the crew answered in choruses, timing physical work to the song's rhythm.

By incorporating them into Windrose, Kraken Express leans into the maritime setting in a way few pirate games do. Rather than generic ambient music, the crew's singing creates a sense of crewmates as companions rather than just combat support.

Confirmed Shanties in Windrose

Kraken Express has confirmed the following traditional sea shanties appear in the game, re-recorded or arranged specifically for Windrose. Earlier versions were released as singles and trailer soundtracks during the Crosswind-era marketing campaign:

Composer: Sean Dagher

Sean Dagher composed the original soundtrack and sea shanties for Windrose. His involvement gives the game's audio a sense of maritime authenticity, and the shanties use genuine period style rather than generic pirate pastiche. The Windrose Supporter Bundle ($39.99) includes the full Original Soundtrack as digital DLC, and a standalone OST DLC is available for around $5 to $8 USD.

Production Approach

The studio confirmed that all sea shanties were made in-house (no AI-generated vocals or music) during the early April 2025 "Shanties of Crosswind" music video release. The initial shanties were recorded and performed by the team and their collaborators, with the arrangements tailored to how the player would experience them aboard a moving ship: layered vocals, dynamic volume based on crew size, and natural pauses between verses that interact with in-game events. Post-launch community feedback requested "rougher backing vocals" for grittier variety, which the studio acknowledged in the March 23, 2026 post-demo improvements post.

How Shanties Work In-Game

• NPC crew members perform the shanties; player characters do not sing

• Shanties play during open-sea sailing, typically during longer journeys

• Volume and intensity scale with how many crew members are on deck

• Multiple songs rotate through the available catalog

• Shanties pause during ship-to-ship combat and boarding actions

• Deckhands also perform idle actions (heading below decks, sleeping in hammocks) that tie into the overall day-night ship routine

Community Reception

Shanties are one of the most positively received features of the game. Players specifically cite them as adding personality and immersion to what might otherwise feel like dead travel time. PC Gamer, engadget, Prima Games, and numerous community threads have singled out the shanties for praise. The official Discord has had active threads requesting more shanties, and Kraken Express has indicated more shanties will be added during Early Access.

Soundtrack DLC

The Original Soundtrack is available two ways: (1) included in the Windrose Supporter Bundle ($39.99, 10% launch discount), and (2) as a standalone DLC purchase on Steam (approximately $5 to $8 USD at launch). The OST DLC gives owners a full audio library they can play outside the game.

Historical Connection

Windrose's setting around 1700 predates the true golden age of sea shanties by about a century. Shanties as known today largely developed during the packet ship era of the 1820s to 1860s. The songs used in the game are anachronistic for a strict 1700 setting but fit the broader Age of Piracy fantasy Windrose is going for. Pirate crews of the late 17th and early 18th centuries sang, but their repertoire was different from the shanties later codified as "pirate music" in popular culture.