Chemical Chords is the eleventh album from prolific popsters Stereolab. It is their first album since 2004’s Margerine Eclipse (notwithstanding the 2006 EP collection, Fab Four Suture ).
While preparing for this release, the band worked over one summer at Instant Zero, their studio located in Bordeaux, France. They crafted 32 songs with keyboardist/technician Joe Watson producing. And they borrowed guitars and keyboards from Marc Fitoussi and Delphine Demilly respectively, who each score a quaint “thanks” in the album notes for these loans.
Chemical Chords is a 48-minute pop record containing fourteen saccharine tracks. While some people may find these sweet, others may think it is sickly, as the songs have a tendency to blend into one another. If a few of the songs had been culled from this release, it would have made a much stronger and punchier effort. Neon Beanbag opens the proceedings and sets the scene for much of the record. It is reminiscent of a nursery rhyme, so I can see where the appeal would lie. However, the simplistic lyrics almost feel like a mass of monosyllables.
Three Women is the first of many songs containing French lyrics and is like muzak tinged with horns. The combination of English with a second language in pop music is reminiscent of Ladytron. However, Stereolab make use of more string instruments and this is most prominent in the album’s title track. Moreover, Pop Molecule is a pleasing instrumental and distortion-packed interlude. It provides the listener with a well-earned break from the other sugary pop songs.
In all, the cute string and vibraphone juxtapositions result in a collection of music that could be a movie score. However, when listened to for purely its own merits, it does come up lacking.
Chemical Chords is out now on 4ad through Inertia.
