Stereolab – Cloud Land

Stereolab have been quietly prolific since returning last year with Instant Holograms On Metal Film, their first album in fifteen years. After that came the double single “Fed Up With Your Job” b/w “Constant And Uniform Movement Unknown”, and now “Cloud Land” b/w “Flashes In The Afternoon” finally makes it to streaming — previously it existed only as a tour-only 7″ you could pick up at the merch table.

“Cloud Land” was already getting played live before any official recording landed, so anyone who caught a show last year will know what to expect. The studio version is a six-minute-plus epic: wormy synths, cool percussive breaks, the band doing what they’ve always done and making it feel effortless. The B-side “Flashes In The Afternoon” is an instrumental take on “Flashes from Everywhere”, leaning into old-timey easy-listening territory in a way that’s more playful than reverent. Both tracks are on Stereolab’s own Duophonic UHF Disks — and Warp Records for the digital release. Long may they keep dropping music whenever the feeling is right.