• News

• All

May 20, 2025 By Mark Redfern Photography by Joe Dilworth

Stereolab are releasing Instant Holograms on Metal Film, their first new album in 15 years, this Friday via Duophonic UHF Disks and Warp. Now they have released the album’s third and final pre-release single, “Transmuted Matter.” Listen to the song below.

Stereolab’s Tim Gane had this to say about the new album in a press release: “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.”

Singer Laetitia Sadier says: “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.”

Sadier writes the band’s lyrics and had to say about the subject matter on Instant Holograms on Metal Film: “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.”

Previously Stereolab shared the album’s first single, “Aerial Troubles,” via a music video. “Aerial Troubles” was #2 on our Songs of the Week list. Then they released the album’s second single, “Melodie Is a Wound,” along with an accompanying crossword puzzle. “Melodie Is a Wound” was #1 on our Songs of the Week list.

Stereolab’s last studio album was 2010’s Not Music, although despite an indefinite hiatus the band has remained active since then reissuing older albums and since 2019 they have been touring. The band is led by founding members Laetitia Sadier and Tim Gane and also includes Andy Ramsay, Joseph Watson, and Xavier Muñoz Guimera. Instant Holograms on Metal Film also features Cooper Crain, Rob Frye, Ben LaMar Gay, Ric Elsworth, Holger Zapf, Marie Merlet, and Molly Read.

Instant Holograms on Metal Film was teased with an “Aerial Troubles” 7-inch being mailed to select fans (with an instrumental version of the song on the B-side). Cryptic posters featuring a Stereolab word search also appeared in some major cities.

Sadier released a new solo album, Rooting For Love, in 2024 via Drag City.

In 2021, Sadier guested on Jarvis Cocker’s cover of Dalida’s 1973 duet with Alain Delon, “Paroles, Paroles.” It was featured on Cocker’s album, Chansons D’Ennui Tip-Top, which was a companion piece to Wes Anderson’s film, The French Dispatch.

Also read our 2014 interview with Sadier or our 2010 interview where Sadier and Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox interviewed each other.

Stereolab Tour Dates:

Europe Dates:

+ = Astrobal
* = TBC

5/24 - Dover, UK @ The Booking Hall * SOLD OUT
5/25 - Brussels, BE @ Botanique Les Nuits Botanique
5/26 - Köln, DE @ Gloria
5/28 - Hamburg, DE @ Grunspan
5/29 - Berlin, DE @ Huxley Neue Welt
5/30 - Frankfurt, DE @ Zoom
5/31 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
6/1 - Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje
6/3 - Nantes, FR @ Stereolux +
6/4 - Paris, FR @ Le Trianon + SOLD OUT
6/5 - Bordeaux, FR @ Barbey +
6/6 - Barcelona, ESP @ Primavera Sound + SOLD OUT
6/7 - Madrid, ESP @ Teatro Eslava +
6/9 - Grenoble, FR @ La Belle Electrique +
6/10 - Ferrara, IT @ Ferrara Sotto le Stelle
6/11 - Zurich, CH @ Volkshaus +
6/12 - Munich, DE @ Hansa 36 +
6/14 - Zagreb, CR @ Tvornica Kulture +
6/15 - Budapest, HU @ A38 Ship +
6/16 - Vienna, AU @ WUK +
6/17 - Prague, CZ @ Meet Factory +
6/19 - Schorndorf, DE - Manufaktur +
6/20 - Luxembourg, LU @ Den Atelier +
7/11 - Cagliari, SD, IT @ Siren Festival

North American Dates:

+ = Memorials
@ = Dorothea Paas & Bitchin’ Bajas / Natural Information Society
* = Bitchin’ Bajas
^ = TBC

9/13 - Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl +
9/14 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse +
9/16 - Miami, FL @ Miami Beach Bandshell +
9/18 - New Orleans, LA @ The Civic Theatre +
9/19 - Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre +
9/20 - Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel +
9/21 - Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom SOLD OUT +
9/23 - Washington, D.C. @ The Howard Theatre +
9/24 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer SOLD OUT +
9/26 - Boston, MA @ Royale +
9/27 - Portland, ME @ State Theatre +
10/1 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel SOLD OUT +
10/2 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel @
10/3 - Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground SOLD OUT @
10/4 - Montreal, QC @ Théâtre Beanfield SOLD OUT @
10/6 - Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall SOLD OUT @
10/7 - Buffalo, NY @ Asbury Hall @
10/8 - Cleveland, OH @ Globe Iron @
10/9 - Chicago, IL @ Metro SOLD OUT @
10/10 - Chicago, IL @ Metro SOLD OUT
10/11 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue @
10/12 - Iowa City, IA @ Hancher Auditorium at the Englert Theatre @
10/14 - Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre @
10/17 - Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre *
10/18 - Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre SOLD OUT *
10/19 - Portland, OR @ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom*
10/21 - San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom SOLD OUT *
10/22 - San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom ^
10/24 - Santa Cruz, CA @ Rio Theatre SOLD OUT *
10/25 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether SOLD OUT *
10/26 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether SOLD OUT ^
10/28 - San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park *
10/30 - Marfa, TX @ The Capri SOLD OUT *
10/31 - Austin, TX @ TBC
11/1 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall *
11/2 - Dallas, TX @ Granada Theatre *

Latin American Dates:

11/4 - Buenos Aires, ARG @ Complejo Art Media
11/7 - Santiago, CHI @ Fauna Primaversa
11/9 - São Paulo, BRA @ Balaclava Festival
11/12 - Mexico City, MX @ Foro Indie Rocks! SOLD OUT
11/13 - Mexico City, MX @ Foro Indie Rocks!

UK Dates:

12/5 - Brighton, UK @ Corn Exchange
12/6 - London, UK @ Royal Festival Hall SOLD OUT
12/8 - Glasgow, UK @ SWG3
12/9 - Leeds, UK @ Project House
12/11 - Manchester, UK @ O2 Ritz
12/12 - Wolverhampton, UK @ University of Wolverhampton at the Wulfrun Hall
12/13 - Oxford, UK @ O2 Academy
12/14 - London, UK @ Brixton Electric

Subscribe to Under the Radar’s print magazine.

Support Under the Radar on Patreon.