Stardew Valley creator teams up with Metal Gear Solid composer for 'game music lullabies'

Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone has teamed up with Metal Gear Solid composer Norihiko Hibino and Etrian Odyssey pianist Ayaki—a duo collectively known as Gentle Love—to create an album of "game music lullabies" called Prescription for Sleep: Stardew Valley, and we've got an exclusive track that you can listen to right now.

Stardew Valley is the 11th album in the Prescription for Sleep: Game Music Lullabies series from Scarlet Moon Records, which also includes releases based on Shovel Knight, Undertale, Celeste, and Wizard of Legend. Scarlet Moon said the Stardew Valley release is "particularly special" because it was entirely produced by Barone.

"I was already a fan of Gentle Love's Prescription for Sleep series," Barone told us. "I listened to their Secret of Mana album a lot while working on Stardew Valley. After they made Shovel Knight and Undertale albums, it dawned on me that Stardew Valley might be a perfect fit as well, so I approached Scarlet Moon Records with the idea."

Barone, who composed the original Stardew Valley soundtrack, "weighed in on what tracks should be used and gave some notes for the feeling and idea behind each track," before they were "re-imagined" for the album by Gentle Love.

"I almost feel bad that we turned things around and put him to work," Jayson Napolitano of Scarlet Moon Records added. "But I must say having the personal touch of the composer and creator of Stardew Valley makes this volume all that much more meaningful."

"The original concept of the game, to feel nature and live in it, is quite well enhanced by the original game soundtrack," Hibino said. "Ayaki and I talked a lot to illustrate the same atmosphere the original music expresses and pick up the essence to develop our own take on it. In other words, the original soundtrack itself inspired us a lot."

Prescription for Sleep: Stardew Valley is set to release on May 19, and will be available from Bandcamp, Apple Music, iTunes, and Amazon.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.