While making
Margerine Eclipse
,
Stereolab
encountered more than their fair share of hardships and heartbreak. Just before the band started the album's sessions, keyboardist/vocalist
Mary Hansen
died at just 36 when the bicycle she was riding was hit by a truck in December 2002. Despite their loss,
decided to continue recording at the new studio they were building in the Medoc region of France but had difficulties completing its construction. It's something of a miracle, then, that
not only exists but is some of the most joyful music of
's latter-day career. The fizzy "Margerine Rock" sounds like it could've appeared on a volume of
Switched On
-- and as a matter of fact, the band reinterpreted unused recordings they made for Carlton Television back in 1992 throughout the album. Here and on "Bop Scotch"'s synthy surf-rock, they return to the effortless fun that informed their music prior to
Dots and Loops
. "Hillbilly Motobike" is another breezy standout, although it's one of many moments on
where
Hansen
's absence is palpable. It's easy to hear where she and
Laetitia Sadier
would have traded vocals on the exceptionally beautiful "Cosmic Country Noir," and when
Sadier
sings "changes are coming anyway" on "The Man with 100 Cells," there's a bittersweet cast to its revolutionary viewpoint. "Feel and Triple" is the most obvious homage to their fallen friend, but the loss of
also shadows songs like "...Sudden Stars." As coolly lovely as it was on the
Instant 0 in the Universe
EP, its delicate, measured synth and graceful vocal lines are even more poignant thanks to lyrics such as "If you must go, go." Elsewhere,
continue
Sound-Dust
's trend of streamlining and tweaking sounds they explored previously. "La Demeure," a mix of
Raymond Scott
-like synth sparkles and brass set to unpredictable rhythmic and melodic shifts, plays like a microcosm of the worlds they discovered on
and
Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night
. The influence of longtime friend and collaborator
Sean O'Hagan
surfaces on "Vonal Declosion"'s twangy guitars and lush strings and on "Dear Marge," where languid guitars and silky vocals threaten to slide off into a blissful haze before the band reprise the surprisingly convincing disco interlude they introduced on
's "Mass Riff." Moments like this make
a strong, surprisingly reinvigorated album from a band dedicated to pushing themselves, no matter what the circumstances.
[As the final installment in
's 2019 reissue series, it's fitting that the band took a somewhat different approach to the deluxe edition of
. On the album proper, the Japanese bonus track "La Spirale" has been returned to the middle of "Hillbilly Motobike." And instead of including demos, the album features the triple vinyl 7" version of
and the tour-only 7" "Rose, My Rocket Brain!" The extended
is a joy, allowing more room for "Mass Riff"'s space-age disco-funk and the zippy Moogs on "Good Is Me"; both of these songs make the connection between the EP and the freewheeling feel of
even clearer. Meanwhile, "Rose, My Rocket Brain!" is the rare
tour single with vocals -- and political vocals at that, with
decrying the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Collecting virtually all of the album's sessions, this edition of
is another fine example of the care
poured into the entire reissue campaign.] ~ Heather Phares