Stereolab Release new single “Melodie Is A Wound”

Today, Stereolab share “Melodie Is A Wound”, a follow-up single to the album’s announcement earlier in the month, accompanied by an edited version. Following the wordsearch and fill-in-the-blanks puzzles from the last release, “Melodie Is A Wound” arrives alongside a Stereolab-themed cryptic crossword puzzle. The crossword has been compiled by Alan Connor, who works as the crossword editor for The Guardian and sets the cryptic crossword for The Observer, has been question editor for TV shows House Of Games and Only Connect, and is the author of books including 188 Words For Rain.

Stereolab’s forthcoming album, Instant Holograms On Metal Film, will be available on 23rd May 2025, co-released by the band’s own label Duophonic UHF Disks, and Warp Records. Their first new record in fifteen years, it features thirteen songs written by Laetitia Sadier and Tim Gane; performed by Laetitia, Tim, Andy Ramsay, Joe Watson and Xavi Muñoz, who comprise the current touring line-up of the band.

The album also features guest contributions by Cooper Crain and Rob Frye (Bitchin Bajas), Ben LaMar Gay (International Anthem), Ric Elsworth, Holger Zapf (Cavern Of Anti-Matter), Marie Merlet and Molly Hansen Read.

Instant Holograms On Metal Film will be available on double vinyl LP in standard and colour variants, as well as compact disc and digital formats. Pre-order/save it here.

Hear the second single, “Melodie Is A Wound” here and watch the visualiser for the song here.

Attempt to solve the cryptic crossword puzzle for “Melodie Is A Wound” below:

Alan is also a Stereolab fan, and comments:

“Writing this puzzle I felt an unfamiliar sensation, at first in my knees. A recovered memory of Stereolab in a venue which sent the groop’s noise bursts – bass? sub-bass? whatever might be under that? – directly inside each of us in the crowd, reshaping us in wonderful ways. No one else has done that, but then no one else has done the alchemic things Stereolab has done. Happily for me, this is a band fond of titles which read just like fragments of cryptic clues. So long, that is, as your brain has been suitably warped by puzzles. Happily, mine has been warped this way – as well as my body by Stereolab. Thank you for the warping, thank you Warp and thank you Stereolab.  By the way, I sincerely believe that anyone in public life would do public life better if they listened to Emperor Tomato Ketchup’s “Tomorrow Is Already Here” a few times. What was then the future has borne out that one plenty.”

Previously, some fans of the band received a package stamped “unsolicited Stereolab material”. Inside was a 7” single containing “Aerial Troubles” on one side, an instrumental version on the flip, with a cryptic wordsearch insert. At the same time, posters with the band’s name appeared in a number of major cities with the same word grid printed on. Over the past few days, several attempts have been made to solve the wordsearch, with much online speculation about how the words go together, and whether the single did indeed contain new music, or something uncovered from the band’s archives.

And in lieu of a description of the music, the band are inviting fans, detractors, and journalists alike to provide their own adjectives on a fill-in-the-blanks sheet.

Instant Holograms On Metal Film Tracklist:
01. Mystical Plosives
02. Aerial Troubles
03. Melodie Is A Wound
04. Immortal Hands
05. Vermona F Transistor
06. Le Coeur Et La Force
07. Electrified Teenybop!
08. Transmuted Matter
09. Esemplastic Creeping Eruption
10. If You Remember I Forgot How To Dream Pt.1
11. Flashes From Everywhere
12. Colour Television
13. If You Remember I Forgot How To Dream Pt.2

Stereolab are touring globally this year with UK dates in December, including newly announced dates in London at Brixton Electric on 14th December, Wolverhampton at the University of Wolverhampton at the Wulfrun Hall on 12th December, and a tour warm-up show at The Booking Hall in Dover on 24th May. Many shows are now sold out. See a full list of live dates below.

September 2025
13th – Brooklyn Bowl – Nashville, TN – on sale here
14th – Variety Playhouse – Atlanta, GA – on sale here
16th – Miami Beach Bandshell – Miami, FL – on sale here
18th – Civic Theatre – New Orleans, LA – on sale here
19th – Georgia Theatre – Athens, GA – on sale here
20th – The Orange Peel – Asheville, NC – on sale here
21st – Haw River Ballroom – Saxapahaw, NC – SOLD OUT
23rd – The Howard Theatre – Washington, DC – on sale here
24th – Union Transfer – Philadelphia. PA – SOLD OUT
26th – Royale – Boston, MA – on sale here
27th – State Theatre – Portland, ME – on sale here

October 2025
1st – Brooklyn Steel – Brooklyn, NY – SOLD OUT
2nd – Brooklyn Steel – Brooklyn, NY – on sale here
3rd – Higher Ground – Burlington, VT – SOLD OUT
4th – Théâtre Beanfield – Montreal, QC – SOLD OUT
6th – Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, ON – SOLD OUT
7th – Asbury Hall – Buffalo, NY – on sale here
8th – Globe Iron – Cleveland, OH – on sale here
9th – Metro – Chicago, IL – SOLD OUT
10th – Metro – Chicago, IL – SOLD OUT
11th – First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN – on sale here
12th – Hancher Auditorium at the Englert Theatre – Iowa City, IA – on sale here
14th – Gothic Theatre – Denver, CO – on sale here
17th – Vogue Theatre – Vancouver, BC – on sale here
18th – Neptune Theatre – Seattle, WA – SOLD OUT
19th – McMenamins Crystal Ballroom – Portland, OR – on sale here
21st – The Regency Ballroom – San Francisco, CA – SOLD OUT
22nd – The Regency Ballroom – San Francisco, CA – on sale here
24th – Rio Theatre – Santa Cruz, CA – SOLD OUT
25th – The Bellwether – Los Angeles, CA – SOLD OUT
26th – The Bellwether – Los Angeles, CA – SOLD OUT
28th – Observatory North Park – San Diego, CA – on sale here
30th – Ballroom Marfa – Marfa, TX – SOLD OUT
31st – TBC – Austin, TX

November 2025
1st – White Oak Music Hall – Houston, TX – on sale here
2nd – Granada Theatre – Dallas, TX – on sale here
4th – Complejo Art Media – Buenos Aires, Argentina – on sale here
7th/8th – Fauna Primavera – Santiago, Chile
9th – Balaclava Fest – São Paulo, Brazil – on sale here
12th – Foro Indie Rocks! – Mexico City, Mexico – SOLD OUT
13th – Foro Indie Rock! – Mexico City, Mexico – on sale here

December 2025
5th – Brighton Dome Corn Exchange – Brighton, England – on sale here
6th – Royal Festival Hall – London, England – SOLD OUT
8th – SWG3 Galvanisers – Glasgow, Scotland – on sale here
9th – Project House – Leeds, England – on sale here
11th – O2 Ritz – Manchester, England – on sale here
12th – Wulfrun Hall – Wolverhampton, England – on sale here
13th – O2 Academy – Oxford, England – SOLD OUT
14th – Brixton Electric – London, England – on sale here