Earlier this month, a number of Stereolab fans received a mysterious 7″ vinyl single in the mail labeled “Unsolicited Stereolab Material.” The disc, which was also sent to some Pitchfork staffers, contained a song called “Aerial Troubles” on one side and its instrumental version of the track on the reverse. Now, the band has released the new song and announced an accompanying album, marking Stereolab’s first new music in 15 years. Instant Holograms on Metal Film arrives May 23 via Stereolab’s label, Duophonic UHF Disks, and Warp Records. Check out the hallucinatory video for “Aerial Troubles,” directed by French photographer and painter Laurent Askienazy, below.
Alongside original members Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier, Instant Holograms on Metal Film features contributions from Cooper Crain, Rob Frye, Ben LaMar Gay, Ric Elsworth, Holger Zapf, Marie Merlet, and Molly Read. The 7″ that the band sent out also included fill-in and word-finder puzzles that included band members’ names and other hints at new music. The logos for Warp and Duophonic UHF Disks were also printed on the single sleeve.
Stereolab’s most recent album, Not Music, came out back in 2010. In the decade-plus since, they have reissued a number of records, most recently Pulse of the Early Brain, which got the re-release treatment in 2022. Earlier this year, they announced more affordable reissues of seven albums, in double-disc form rather than the earlier triple-disc editions.
Stereolab are also getting ready to embark on an international tour next month, playing various cities in North America and Europe through the end of the year.
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Instant Holograms on Metal Film:
01 Mystical Plosives
02 Aerial Troubles
03 Melodie Is a Wound
04 Immortal Hands
05 Vermona F Transistor
06 Le Coeur et la Force
07 Electrified Teenybop!
08 Transmuted Matter
09 Esemplastic Creeping Eruption
10 If You Remember I Forgot How to Dream Pt. 1
11 Flashes From Everywhere
12 Colour Television
13 If You Remember I Forgot How to Dream Pt. 2
