Has it been five years since the last album proper from Yo La Tengo? The band's released an EP and other things in the interim, but it is always a cause for quiet jubilation when this three-piece drops a new full-length record.
Self-produced, This Stupid World, is out on Friday via Matador Records. Things are more or less calm here in YLT land, with an overall mood pervading this release like a room of mediating monks chanting "Om", to be cute about it. And, like those contemplating existence itself, and looking for deliverance from it, James McNew, Georgia Hubley, and Ira Kaplan are doing the same. The tracks work themselves into grooves, with instrumental bits catching fire here and there, but the entire record works best when played start to finish, so as to work a bit like that chant by those monks. It's the sort of thing to get lost in, and a return to the days when one listened to an album, not tracks on a streaming service that pays less than pennies to musicians. Ahem.
While lead single "Fallout" suggests a return to Painful days of yore, most of This Stupid World is more languid. "Aseletine", a gorgeous number with Georgia on vocals, is spacious and soothing, even as the gently pulsing "Until It Happens" conjures up a subtle tension. Elsewhere, "Tonight's Episode" burns with an edgy flame, even with purposefully vapid lyrics. That one and "Brain Capers" are hard-edged enough to briefly dispell the enlightened drone of the entire presentation, even as closer "Miles Away" takes a few more stylistic chances. Fuzzy and stretched out, the sampled beat here percolates under the distant thunder of the guitar-lines. It's this trio's Victorialand moment and it works tremendously well without getting too dream-pop.
Taken in all at once, This Stupid World is a resounding success. It's concise, even as the numbers here feel like they are stretching things out into a new space. One remains impressed by this band's ability to do new things without even sounding like they are trying too hard, even while they're simultaneously once again delivering the things we've loved about them all along. This Stupid World won't entirely broaden this band's reach, but it's a beautiful release in spots, and the rarest of albums that demands an hour of your undivided time. It's faintly hypnotic that way.
This Stupid World by Yo La Tengo is out on Friday via Matador Records.
[Photo: Matador Records]