Stereolab Unsure About Future After 'Not Music'

British indie-pop staples Stereolab recently released an album called 'Not Music,' but we can indeed confirm that it is, in fact, music. The record comes as the band is on a self-imposed indefinite hiatus, but fans who might be concerned that an album called 'Not Music' is just a bunch of throwaway songs should consider that the band actually wanted to release this at the same time as 2008's 'Chemical Chords.'

Stereolab vocalist Laetitia Sadier tells Spinner that the recording sessions yielded 35 songs, of which the material was divided by guitarist Tim Gane into two batches. "With 'Chemical Chords,' [Tim] picked all the happy, chirpy rhythms. He wanted it to be a happy record, positive and upbeat," Sadier says. "What was left was the darker side."

While Stereolab has never been that synonymous with "dark," we'll go with it. Sadier actually does reference "the darkness" during the shifty 'Leleklato Sugar' and the robotic-meets-French-pop-sounding 'Laserblast.'

Stereolab have always approached music in a rather unique way. For these albums, Gane collected around 135 loops to create 55 songs. They then pared those tracks down to 35 and Sadier contributed her lyrics.

"In the end, I remember reading the newspaper, to get [ideas]," Sadier recalls. "Tim liked to have choices and always over-recorded. We'd always record 25 or 30 songs for each record. Really, they should have come out one or two months apart -- six at most, but the record company wanted to concentrate on all their efforts onto one record."

Whether or not 'Not Music' will be Stereolab's last album remains to be seen. Regarding the band's hiatus, Sadier says that it's up in the air. "Personally, I'd had enough of this band," she admits. "I was doing my duty but I wasn't enjoying it. I think with Tim, he always needed a reason to write music. Maybe at one stage he did run out of steam. We all felt it was a natural time to give it a rest."

"I hope that someday I'll sing some of Tim's songs again," she adds. "I've always said that, but I really have no idea."

'Not Music' is out now on Drag City.