Stereolab – Cloud Land / Flashes In The Afternoon

Less than a year after their unexpected comeback with Instant Holograms On Metal Film, Stereolab extend this latest chapter with a new single. »Cloud Land« is less concerned with the political urgency of earlier work than with a specific phase in the band’s catalogue: the warm textures of Sound-Dust (2001). At the same time, it introduces a greater sense of drive.

The accessible, electropop-leaning track is built around keyboard loops with a mantra-like quality, recalling the synthetic sweep of Vangelis. The drums provide grounding, keeping the floating melodies in motion. Rather than lapsing into nostalgia, the song feels focused and forward-facing – familiar in tone, but carefully pushed further.

The B-side »Flashes In The Afternoon« is not a new composition but an instrumental version of »Flashes From Everywhere«. Here, the repetitive, motorik groove comes to the fore, forming a solid base for drifting melodies and intricately layered organ passages. That the track holds without vocals points to the underlying structural strength of the composition. Cloud Land / Flashes In The Afternoon is less an exclamation mark than a refinement. The single shows that Stereolab do not need to reinvent their language in order to remain relevant.