Electric 5 Reimagines The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black” With Electrified Elegance
The Chicago quintet brings classical precision and rock defiance together in one stunning live performance.
The line between rock and classical has always been thin, but Electric 5 tears it wide open. The Chicago-based all-female electric string quintet has turned The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black” into something that feels both cinematic and primal, reshaping a classic with nothing more than strings, chemistry, and guts.
Their version, arranged by Dusan Sarapa and Adia, removes the safety net completely. Recorded live at Coda Room Audio in Chicago and mixed by Grammy-winning engineer James Auwarter in London, the track captures the group’s signature “no-tracks” philosophy, meaning no loops, no layers, no studio magic. Every note is played in real time, building a sound that’s raw, tense, and vividly human.
It’s a daring move for any artist to reinterpret one of rock’s most recognizable songs, but Electric 5 approaches it like a dialogue rather than a cover. The cellos thunder with rhythm, the violins weave through dissonance and emotion, and the result is something closer to a live performance piece than a studio single. The energy feels unfiltered, the kind of intensity that reminds you music doesn’t need to be loud to be powerful.
With members Adia, Kelsee Vandervall, Erica Carpenedo, Violetta Todorova, and Lillian Pettit, the group has steadily carved its own lane in the modern crossover space. Their take on Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” earned them attention for refusing to compromise artistry for polish. Now, with “Paint It Black,” they double down on that mission, proving that authenticity, not genre, drives impact.
What makes Electric 5 stand out isn’t just technical mastery. It’s their shared belief that live performance is a conversation — with the music, the audience, and each other. There’s a quiet rebellion in that mindset, a resistance to the overproduced perfection that dominates streaming platforms.In a landscape saturated with software and automation, Electric 5 sounds alive. Their “Paint It Black” is a reminder that some songs still have room to breathe, and some artists still believe in the power of playing them that way.
