Country : United Kingdom / United States Label : Duophonic / Warp Genres and styles : art rock / Avant-Pop / Avant-Rock / électro-indie / Electronic / synth-rock Year : 2025

Stereolab – Instant Holograms On Metal Film

· by Stephan Boissonneault

I first became aware of Stereolab, the ’90s English-French avant-garde pop/ synth rock group, back when I was a teenager. I was watching a documentary on Brian Eno’s musical career, specifically about Roxy Music and his solo album Here Come The Warm Jets—a record I was obsessed with and still am today—and paused the film after a list of bands that were influenced by Eno’s sound appeared in big bold letters.

One of the bands was Stereolab. I went to the record store across the street from my high school a few days later and asked them if they had anything by Stereolab. They had a new purple vinyl called Not Music for $45 dollars, or a CD called Emperor Tomato Ketchup for $7. I chose the latter, skipped Science class, lit up a joint, popped the CD in my 2000 something Pontiac Sunfire and drove around the neighbourhood just outside of my school. I was expecting some freaky art rock, based on the Eno influence, but I heard a grooving and motorik lounge music of the opening seven minute song “Metronomic Underground.” I heard the Eno influence, but it kind of reminded me more of a rockier Popul Vuh. Then I heard Lætitia Sadier’s vocals and it became something else entirely. She sings with this cool, yet calming and arresting demeanour, mixing English with French for a psychedelic flair. The rest of the album was a combination of ’60s pop rock, prog, and even some Brazilian jazz, with this droning orchestral flair, while and songs would switch vibes at midpoint jumping between shoegaze, post rock, and electro. I loved it. The album became part of my rotation and I eventually checked out the more guitar-driven Mars Audiac Quintet weeks later and also loved it.

Let’s jump 15 years later to now, as Stereolab is back from slumber with a new album called Instant Holograms On Metal Film. This album continues Stereolab’s fusion of genres, and on first listen, feels just as surprising and exhilarating as their older ’90s releases. You can tell the band really took their time with this one as the album moves at a clip, with no fluff, and Sadier’s vocals are as present as ever.

After the synthy intro called “Mystical Plosives,” we’re thrown into the smooth grooved “Aerial Troubles” and “Melodie Is a Wound,” tackling themes of systemic manipulation, but under a retro-futurist rock groove. Sadier’s voice arrives not as mere melody, but as a benevolent spectre encoded in pink light, brushing your earlobe with political theory and lunar lullabies. Horns melt over lava-lamp basslines, and you’re not sure if you’re dancing or levitating. We get the minor-keyed “Immortal Hands,” featuring some beautiful keyboard and acoustic guitar work and then arrive back at the European space lounge vibe. “Vermona F Transistor,” is probably my favourite track here with it’s jazzy flutes, toy-like synth, melting guitars, and of course, Sadier’s tempting vocals.

Stereolab is still consistently making jams you want to relive over and over again—take the video game-esque instrumental “Electrified Teenybop!” Later, we get the somnambulist rock ballads “If You Remember I Forgot How To Dream,” parts one and two. I hope this album is an introduction for some into Stereolab’s strange and groove-filled universe. Even though Emperor Tomato Ketchup will always be my favourite, probably due to nostalgia, Instant Holograms On Metal Film is an interstellar triumph.

Latest 360 Content

Jeff Bridges – Slow Magic, 1977-1978

Jeff Bridges – Slow Magic, 1977-1978

Piknic Electronik | DJ Fuckoff Turns Up The Heat for Pep Rally

Piknic Electronik | DJ Fuckoff Turns Up The Heat for Pep Rally

Orford 2025 | Collectif9: folk that innovates and grooves

Orford 2025 | Collectif9: folk that innovates and grooves

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | The next global star of Tuareg blues is born, and it is in Montreal

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | The next global star of Tuareg blues is born, and it is in Montreal

Ruby Creek – Forget Me Not

Ruby Creek – Forget Me Not

Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out

Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out

Ross Lee Finney : Landscapes Remembered

Ross Lee Finney : Landscapes Remembered

Lanaudière Festival | The Sparkle of Strauss, Schumann, and Brahms in Joliette

Lanaudière Festival | The Sparkle of Strauss, Schumann, and Brahms in Joliette

Wet Leg – moisturizer

Wet Leg – moisturizer

Sister Ray – Believer

Sister Ray – Believer

Festival de Lanaudière | Franco Fagioli and the voice of bel canto

Festival de Lanaudière | Franco Fagioli and the voice of bel canto

Nuits d’Afrique | Manamba Kanté, An Undeniable Diva

Nuits d’Afrique | Manamba Kanté, An Undeniable Diva

Nuits d’Afrique | El Gato Negro, A Feline Like No Other

Nuits d’Afrique | El Gato Negro, A Feline Like No Other

Nights of Africa 2025 | A gnawa fusion reactor named Saïd Mesnaoui

Nights of Africa 2025 | A gnawa fusion reactor named Saïd Mesnaoui

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | Sousou and Maher Cissoko: benevolence and complicity

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | Sousou and Maher Cissoko: benevolence and complicity

Nuits d’Afrique | Las Karamba And Their Militant Salsa

Nuits d’Afrique | Las Karamba And Their Militant Salsa

Women shine at the Quebec City Opera Festival

Women shine at the Quebec City Opera Festival

Festival de Lanaudière | A Successful Choral Evening for Akamus

Festival de Lanaudière | A Successful Choral Evening for Akamus

Festival d’art vocal de Montréal | Training the Next Generation of Lyric Artists, From Voice to Stage Direction

Festival d’art vocal de Montréal | Training the Next Generation of Lyric Artists, From Voice to Stage Direction

Nuits d’Afrique | Soul Bang’s, The King of Improvisation

Nuits d’Afrique | Soul Bang’s, The King of Improvisation

Nuits d’Afrique | Tyrane Mondeny: The Rising Star Has Reached Her Destination

Nuits d’Afrique | Tyrane Mondeny: The Rising Star Has Reached Her Destination

Nuits d’Afrique | El Gato Negro, The Sound of Subtropical Pop

Nuits d’Afrique | El Gato Negro, The Sound of Subtropical Pop

Nuits d’Afrique | Glowzi, in Soundsystem Mode

Nuits d’Afrique | Glowzi, in Soundsystem Mode

Nuits d’Afrique | Mateus Vidal & Axé Experience, “Uma Festa” in The Rain

Nuits d’Afrique | Mateus Vidal & Axé Experience, “Uma Festa” in The Rain

Subscribe to our newsletter