Stella Five – “Nine Lives”

Poughkeepsie electronic artist Stella Five crafted a deeply peaceful listening experience on “Nine Lives”. Recorded on a quiet laptop setup in Tudor City, New York, the fourteen tracks blend analog hardware, software instruments, melodic sequences, Rhodes, piano, and electric guitar into pure meditative flow state music. This sound draws clear inspiration from running, cats, video games, 80s cinema, and quiet moments outdoors, alongside musical influences like Thomas Barrandon, Kosmischer Laufer, and Lazerhawk.

The visual side connects directly to classical paintings by Edward Hopper and Caspar David Friedrich, whose landscapes shape the mood of the entire presentation. On Spotify, every single track comes paired with custom pixel art loops created by the artist, which links the audio and visuals together smoothly. The tracklist includes “The Mountain”, “Hot Rod Angels”, “Early Sunday Morning”, “Nocturne in D-Sharp Minor, No. 1 “Der Schwebende Ball,” Op. 2″, “The Floating Temple”, “Rooms by the Sea”, “Twilight and Evening Bell”, “Slowly, Slowly One Catches a Monkey in the Forest”, “Into the Forest of Moss and Water”, “The Animal”, “The Gods of the Valleys Are Not the Gods of the Hills”, “Shards and Tatters”, and “A Brook in the City”.

The standout moment on the record is “The Wind and the Rain”. The title brings to mind Irish poetry, Bob Dylan, and Zelda. The music captures the exact feeling of looking out over a vast, misty landscape without fully understanding it, then accepting that feeling and finding the courage to move forward anyway.

Stella Five created a complete masterpiece with “Nine Lives”. It stands as a brilliant work of independent art that stays with you long after the final note finishes. I highly recommend taking time to listen to previous releases from Stella Five if you enjoy ambient chillwave and downtempo electronica. Take a second to hit follow on “Stella Five” across streaming platforms and social media pages so you stay connected for any new music arriving during the rest of this year, and you will definitely want to be there when the next project lands in 2026.