Kingdom Hearts 3’s theme song, ‘Face My Fears,’ is a total bop

The full-length version of “Face My Fears,” the opening theme song to Kingdom Hearts 3, is now available to stream — and it does a great job of further whetting our appetite for the game. Japanese mega-star Utada Hikaru returns to perform, and she’s joined by American mega-star Skrillex this time for the fitting saga-capper.

Say what you will about the pairing, but Skrillex has actually been the man behind some other Very Good Songs. We’re not here to talk about (or pass judgment on) Justin Bieber’s life choices, but his Skrillex collab “Where Are U Now” is undeniably earworm-y pop. So it’s not actually a surprise that Skrillex would do the same for Utada, who has been attached to the Kingdom Hearts series since day one.

Kingdom Hearts theme “Simple and Clean,” this is not; it doesn’t have the same grandiosity of KH2’s “Sanctuary,” either. But Kingdom Hearts launched in 2002, and Kingdom Hearts 2 in 2005; pop music has evolved dramatically in the years since the singer helmed a theme song for the JRPG franchise. “Face My Fears” is an EDM-adjacent, soaring love letter to where the series has been over the last 17 years, and where Utada has been, too. It is 100 percent going on my latest Spotify playlist, which is very good, in case you’re wondering.

Also available on the Face My Fears EP (which includes both the English-language and Japanese-language versions of the song) is an additional ballad called “Don’t Think Twice.” The Japanese version, “Chikai,” is also on there. Get ready for the waterworks with these emotional songs, Kingdom Hearts fans — and expect to hear them in the game too.

Kingdom Hearts 3 launches stateside Jan. 29 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Check out some new screenshots below.

Update: Forgive me for mistaking one good song for another. Skrillex and Biebs worked on “Where Are U Now” together; “What Do You Mean?” is just another good song in the Bieber catalogue. I’ve updated it above.

Grid View

• Square Enix
• Square Enix
• Square Enix
• Square Enix
• Square Enix
• Square Enix
• Square Enix
• Square Enix
• Square Enix
• Square Enix
• Square Enix
• Square Enix
• Square Enix
• Square Enix
• Square Enix