Review: Stereolab @ Royale 9/26
Photo credit: Szilveszter Makó
Review by Robin Sheng
On Sept. 26, 2025, Stereolab performed at the Royale in downtown Boston. The band is currently on tour across North America from September to October to promote their new record, “Instant Holograms on Metal Film.” Stereolab is known for their texturally eclectic and rhythmically pulsing style of indie music, having made several classic records in the 1990s. Their newest album is their first release in 15 years, which fans were highly excited for.
Indeed, as soon as I walked into the main pit area of the Royale, the excitement became obvious. The opener, Memorials, presented a set of mystical and unpredictable tunes that created an anticipatory mood among the crowd. As soon as Stereolab took the stage, they demonstrated perhaps their most well-known strength: their ability to intricately layer distinct textures upon one another. The opening song, “Aerial Troubles,” was especially noteworthy in terms of its vocal layering. Moreover, lead singer Lætitia Sadier displayed impressive control over her vocal dynamics, rising and falling at appropriate contexts. While some may perceive Stereolab as a rather robotic band–not necessarily as a criticism–their live performance proved very much the opposite.
The opener was followed by a short synthesizer-led interlude that may feel inconsequential to some, but I found it to be a great moment of rest between the first two songs. The next song, “Motoroller Scalatron,” was a deep cut from their 1996 album, “Emperor Tomato Ketchup.” Compared with the studio version, the band’s live performance added a somewhat eerie undertone to the song through their careful manipulation of reverb, a choice that I found fitting for the song’s lyrical themes. Stereolab’s strengths reach far beyond texture, however. “Transmuted Matter” features an absolutely stunning melodic progression from a rather tense and mysterious verse to an easy-going chorus section, without feeling abrupt at all.
“Peng! 33,” on the other hand, exemplifies the band at their most poppy moments. The catchy melodies matched perfectly with the simple and yet effective rhythmic energy, further augmented by its slightly increasing tempo and piercing synths. It was also another deep cut, from their often-forgotten debut album, in fact, making it a further treat for their longtime fans. Their career highlight songs such as “Miss Modular,” certainly did not disappoint either. Not only did the band perform with great rhythmic finesse, but they also managed to deliver, with every continuous guitar strum and subsequent wave-reminiscent synthesizer sound, perhaps the most fun and playful song of the concert. “Flowers Called Nowhere” further impressed me in regard to the meticulous and yet contextually bombastic “ahh”’s, in which its loudness felt much more cathartic than the studio version. Nevertheless, I did find the particular texture choice of the song’s lead synthesizer to be slightly grating.
Stereolab’s new material was transformed effectively in the live setting as well. Their performance of “Melodie Is A Wound” further encapsulated the playfulness of the song’s jingle-ish motif. Moreover, fans were in for a treat with an extended and rhythmically intense outro. “Electrified Teenybop,” meanwhile, felt much more overwhelming and engulfing with the altered mixing, emphasizing a denser sonic palette that made the listening experience more immersive.
The closer of the concert’s regular section, “Cybele’s Reverie,” was Sadier’s best vocal performance of the setlist, as she transitioned without any struggle from the lower notes to the higher notes during the song’s pre-chorus. The song was further augmented by an underlying sense of urgency that one may not have expected. “Percolator,” one of the encore performances, further proved the band’s strength in playfulness, which was especially carried out by a fun and bouncy dotted synthesizer effect. Ultimately, Stereolab delivered a highly memorable performance that balanced cohesion and idiosyncrasy.