Iconic rock outfit Stereolab has released “The Super-It” a rarity that will be featured on their upcoming compilation record Electrically Possessed [Switched On Volume 4], out on February 26. This single originally appeared on The Underground Is Coming, a duophonic UHF disk EP released during the band’s 1999 tour.

“The Super-It” is a snapshot of Stereolab’s iconic style, with lounge-drenched jazz keys and a smooth bassline that flows smoothly alongside frontwoman Lætitia Sadier’s ethereal voice. This upbeat song is both infectious and otherworldly, as its psychedelic synth lines blend-in perfectly with catchy melodies.

In our earlier days it would have ended up as a single itself but this was now the LP period of the Groop and so we ended up releasing it as part of a tour single EP. Immaculately recorded by Fulton Dingley, it sounds wonderful and certainly one of the best from the period. Maybe we should have waited a bit and put it on Margerine Eclipse,” the band’s Tim Gane said in a press release.

Although largely credited as one of the pioneering voices in the avant-pop movement of the late 1990s Stereolab defies genre, pulling stylistic influence from funk, jazz, Brazilian music, 1960s French cinema and early synth-pop acts like Yellow Magic Orchestra. As a band with equal footing in both France and the UK, the group has songs in both French and English, with their lyrical content often being subversively political. After a decade-long hiatus, the band returned to doing live shows back in 2019. Their upcoming compilation Electrically Possessed [Switched On Volume 4], will feature recordings from 1999 to 2008.

Photo Credit: Stephen Hoffmeister