Stereolab Return With Their First New Album In 15 Years

05-24-2025

(Orienteer) Stereolab have released their first album in 15 years - Instant Holograms On Metal Film is out now on all major platforms. Speaking on the album's creation, Tim Gane says: "The idea to record a new LP came into focus around spring/summer 2023 and we started recording in January 2024. There were no rehearsals, as usual. We started again from scratch. "Always a beginner" is my attitude to things, just feeling my way through. Music is just an exciting adventure and I don't have any trepidation about doing it or presenting it to others. What comes out comes out."

Laetitia Sadier adds: "I see everything as a continuum with no determined sections, that bears no relation to what has come before or will come after. In the case of Stereolab, Tim is primary composer. On this LP, I did, however, have much more musical input than before. And indeed I had had some practice through developing my own music over the past years, which surely nourished the sound and general configuration."

Instant Holograms On Metal Film is co-released by the band's own label Duophonic UHF Disks, and Warp Records. Featuring thirteen songs written by Laetitia Sadier and Tim Gane; performed by Laetitia, Tim, Andy Ramsay, Joe Watson and Xavi Mu-oz, who comprise the current touring line-up of the band and guest contributions by Cooper Crain and Rob Frye (Bitchin Bajas), Ben LaMar Gay (International Anthem), Ric Elsworth, Holger Zapf (Cavern Of Anti-Matter), Marie Merlet and Molly Hansen Read.

On working with Cooper Crain, Tim comments: "I'm a big fan of Bitchin' Bajas and we had toured with then in the US in 2019 so got to know them well. When we decided to make a new record, he was the only person I had in mind and luckily he could do it. Just like (previous collaborators) John McEntire and Jim O'Rourke, he is an inventive musician as well as a great engineer/producer, and that's what we like."

In terms of the subject matter, lyric writer Laetitia summarises: "As the world falls apart, whether we are aware of it or not, we are already planting the seeds of what will come next. I think it is important to keep in sight what powerful creators we are, and how there is power available to us at this stage to choose what outcome we would like to see for this yet undefined future. The words seek to expose that this is what we do: we create. Our imagination is here to serve that purpose, and is the power we have to choose whatever it is we want to see come about. Some privileged people do not like the idea of sharing this power with the people at large."