Instant Holograms On Metal Film

Stereolab didn't need to make a new album, strictly speaking. They were doing just fine with their post-hiatus regrooping, touring steadily while securing their legacy with a steady stream of compilations and expanded reissues. Their catalogue seemed to feel complete..Instant Holograms on Metal Film, their first proper studio album in 15 years, doesn't so much open a new chapter as it does confirm the band's existing reputation. It's like they ran out of archival material to reissue and had to make some new songs instead, since everything about the album screams classic Stereolab: the non-sequitur of a title, the retrofuturist artwork, and the bounty of cosmic lounge pop.What stands out most about Instant Holograms isn't the lavishly layered beauty of Stereolab's radiant exotica, but rather the simplicity at the core of even their grandest arrangements. With repeat listens, the sing-song directness of their compositions comes to the fore, drawing a through line back to the hypnotic clang of their early work, even as the sonic dressings become more ornate.Strip away the rhythmic switch-ups and squelchy textures of lead single "Aerial Troubles" and the song centres on a guitar riff simple enough to be a nursery rhyme, along with Lætitia Sadier's deadpan declaration that, "The numbing is not working anymore." Even the majestic, near-eight-minute "Melodie Is a Wound" uses its winding arrangement to disguise a simple trick: a series of upward key changes to increase the euphoria of its basic two-chord pattern.As direct as it is complex, Instant Holograms is an album of pure sonic pleasure. Having spent recent years pouring over their back catalogue, Stereolab clearly understand exactly what makes them special and still have the acumen to harness it.