The Numbing Is Not Working Anymore

Stereolab “Aerial Troubles”

Stereolab has returned after 15 years without releasing new material. “Aerial Troubles” sounds exactly like Stereolab in all the ways I expect you to immediately understand, because actually describing their aesthetic feels a little like trying to describe a color. (You’ve seen yellow, right? It looks like things that are yellow.)

But it’s also very Stereolab in the sense that they’ve always taken the “lab” part of their name seriously. They’re always tweaking the formula, absorbing different styles, and figuring out new ways to sound like themselves. In this case, it’s a very different approach to three-part harmony. (I think they’re pulling from Eastern European tradition here, but this beyond my expertise.) There’s also a cool melodic riff towards the end that strikes me as very un-Stereolab, but its fits seamlessly into this composition so it ends up being one more vibe assimilated by the groop.

The lyrics are Stereolab to the nth degree. Laetitia Sadier is singing about “dying modernity” and consumerism no longer serving as an effective numbing agent, but as always, she has some optimism about the possibilities of life on the other side of capitalism and imperialism. She’s using a lot of clunky academic language – “the juncture invites us to provide care while offering antenatal care for the inception of the new yet-undefined future” – but somehow she makes it sound so smooth and elegant in her melodies.

Buy it from Bandcamp.