With the album not Music, Stereolab said goodbye to a break with an uncertain length 15 years ago. After ten albums everything seemed to be said. What the retro futurists learned during their time-out: the world that stereolab has always distanced themselves with their music has been critical of the bike. And there are also enough harmonies that can be further developed. So now the eleventh album Instant Holograms on Metal Film.
Stereolab have been active live for a long time, the songs are the result of constant communication about the possibilities (and impossible) of pop music in late capitalism. These new songs appear light and complex. With harmonies that rotate and turn, the piece “Melody is a wound” and further up to Babel. As always with the late stereolab, some pieces look like very entertaining laboratory experiments-the band is introduced in white coats.
The songs in which the character emerge from the collective are fantastic. This happens in miraculous vocal arrangements that are reminiscent of easy listing ensembles like The Free Design. Or in pieces like “Le Coeur et la Force”, in which Lætitia Sadier shows her passion for nouvelle chanson with a warm and sensual voice.
You can find out which albums were still published in May 2025 via our monthly publication list.