Christopher James Larkin is an Australian composer for video games, film, and television, best known for his work on Hollow Knight (2017) and its sequel Hollow Knight: Silksong (2025). Some of his other works include the music for Pac-Man 256 (2015), Outfolded (2016), TOHU (2021), and Hacknet (2015).
Early life and education Christopher James Larkin was born in Adelaide, South Australia.
Larkin studied composition at Brighton Secondary School, then at the Elder Conservatorium of Music at the University of Adelaide.
Larkin began composing music at a young age and collaborated with filmmaking students while he attended the Elder Conservatorium.
In October 2015, he submitted his thesis for an MPhil in music composition, entitled "Orchestrating the wasteland: sample library engineering as an integral process of realising the music for Wastelander Panda". PDF
Career
Larkin composed the score for the web series Wastelander Panda: Exile, released in 2014 as a second set of three 10-minute episodes.
He knew Ari Gibson, the director of Team Cherry, prior to starting work on their game, Hollow Knight, which was released in 2017. He found out about the project when it was still a Kickstarter and decided to send in a demo for the project. He then worked with Team Cherry to produce a full soundtrack for the game, and it was released in 2017 to critical acclaim.
He later continued his collaboration with Team Cherry, by composing the soundtrack for Hollow Knight'''s sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong.
In 2021 Larkin composed the music for the video game TOHU.
He works as a professional composer and sound designer for visual media such as film, TV, and video games.
Other activities Larkin spoke at the High Score 2023 conference hosted by APRA AMCOS, alongside Yoko Shimomura. He is set to speak again at High Score 2026.
Compositional style Larkin integrates elements of his classical training with a diverse range of musical styles. He draws inspiration from Impressionist composers such as Debussy as well as visual-media composers such as James Newton Howard, Joe Hisaishi, and Koji Kondo.
His most notable work, the Hollow Knight soundtrack, is characterised as conveying "dark elegance and melancholy." The soundtrack is largely orchestral and employs recurring leitmotifs throughout different tracks, each often corresponding to a location or character.
For the adventure game TOHU'', produced by Fireart Games, Larkin used the digital audio workstation Cubase to create a musical score that reflects the game's whimsical story and visuals. His process involved observing the gameplay sent to him by the developers, and sonically interpreting those visual elements.
Works Larkin has composed music for the following productions: +YearTitleGenre2012The Adventures of Figaro PhoTV series2013University of Adelaide: "Seek Light"Commercial2014Wastelander Panda: Exile3-part web series2015Pac-Man 256Video gameExpandThe New Adventures of Figaro PhoTV seriesHacknetVideo game2016Outfolded2017BarbecueDocumentaryHollow KnightVideo game2021TOHUWrestledunk Sports2025Moonlighter 2: The Endless VaultHollow Knight: Silksong
Awards Year Award Category Result 2015 South Australian Screen Awards Best Composition 2016 South Australian Screen Awards Best Sound Design 2017 Australian Screen Sound Guild Awards Best Sound for Interactive Media 2021 South Australian Screen Awards Best Score 2025 The Game Awards 2025 Best Score & Music
References