Sean Dagher is the folk singer and shantyman who composed and performed the sea shanties for Windrose. He is also widely known for performing the sea shanties in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Ubisoft's 2013 pirate game that heavily influenced Windrose's naval combat design.
Role on Windrose
Developer Yar_master confirmed Dagher's role on the Steam Community hub: "The vocals were recorded live by Sean Dagher, an amazing artist and a shantyman in AC Black Flag." His work provides the vocal performances for the traditional sea shanties the NPC crew sings while sailing, turning long travel sequences into atmospheric moments that have been widely praised by press and players.
Shanty Catalog
Dagher's performances on Windrose cover a mix of traditional Age-of-Sail shanties re-recorded or arranged for the game:
Drunken Sailor
Leave Her Johnny
Blow the Man Down
Rolling Down to Old Maui
Good Morning Ladies
Whiskey Johnny
British Tars / Sail the Raging Sea
Rolling Home (released as a standalone single in August 2025)
Initially, Dagher recorded all vocal parts and harmonies himself, which the developer confirmed by stating: "for now we have contracted only one singer, and he had to sing all the tones." Community feedback requesting "rougher backing vocals" led Kraken Express to acknowledge plans for multi-vocalist recordings in future Early Access updates.
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Connection
Dagher performed many of the sea shanties in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, which released in 2013 and remains one of the most beloved pirate games ever made. Windrose's developers explicitly cite AC4: Black Flag as a direct inspiration for naval combat, and sharing Dagher between both games creates a subtle audio continuity that rewards players who have experienced both. A Steam Community member titled a thread "We don't deserve this game," praising the game's "absolute BANGER music" in part because of Dagher's reputation.
Production Approach
All shanties in Windrose are produced entirely in-house with no AI vocal or compositional tools used. The Crosswind Wiki confirmed: "All shanties in Crosswind are made in house and DO NOT use A.I." The instrumental arrangements are composed and produced by Kraken Express's audio engineer, described as "a multi-instrumentalist and active live performer," who works alongside Dagher's vocal recordings.
Official Soundtrack DLC
Dagher's work is featured on the Windrose Original Soundtrack, available as a standalone Steam DLC or bundled with the Windrose Supporter Bundle ($39.99) alongside wallpapers. The OST gives owners a full audio library of the game's shanties and incidental music.
See Also
Sea Shanties - full shanty overview
Kraken Express - studio profile
NPC Crew - crew behavior including shanties