Editing Stereolab (section)

===2002–2010: Death of Hansen, later releases and hiatus===
In 2002, as they were planning their next album, Stereolab started building a studio north of [[Bordeaux]], France. ''[[ABC Music (Stereolab album)|ABC Music: The Radio 1 Sessions]]''; a compilation of [[BBC Radio 1]] sessions was released in October.<ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r612216|pure_url=yes}}|title=Review (ABC Music: The Radio 1 Sessions)|last=Mason, Stewart|website=AllMusic|access-date=1 June 2007}}</ref> In the same year, Gane and Sadier's romantic relationship ended.<ref name="McNair (2004)">{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20040130/ai_n9686514|title=Rock & pop: Total eclipse of the heart|last=McNair, James|work=The Independent|access-date=30 January 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016152935/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20040130/ai_n9686514|archive-date=16 October 2007}}</ref>{{Quote box
| quote = Losing Mary is still incredibly painful&nbsp;...&nbsp;But it's also an opportunity to transform and move on. It's a new version. We've always had new versions, people coming in and out. That's life.<ref>{{cite news | last=Laban, Linda | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-115189718.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103035048/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-115189718.html | archive-date=3 November 2012 |work=Boston Herald  | title=Stereolab changes with 'Eclipse' | date=9 April 2004}}</ref> 
| source = —Sadier, 2004
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}}

On 9 December 2002, Hansen was killed when hit by a truck while riding her bicycle in London.<ref name="McLean (2019)" /> She was 36. Writer Pierre Perrone said that her "playful nature and mischievous sense of humour came through in the way she approached the backing vocals she contributed to Stereolab and the distinctive harmonies she created with Sadier."<ref name="perrone"/> For the next few months, Stereolab lay dormant as the members grieved. They eventually decided to continue. Future album and concert reviews would mention the effects of Hansen's absence.<ref name="Harvey (2017)" /><ref name="DeRogatis (2003)"/><ref name="Harrington (2004)"/><ref name="Wagner (2004)">{{cite news | last=Wagner, Lori | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-113256578.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103035134/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-113256578.html | archive-date=3 November 2012 |publisher=The Virginian Pilot  | title=Music Reviews: A little old, a little new from Stereolab. (Daily Break) | date=13 February 2004}}</ref>

The EP ''[[Instant 0 in the Universe]]'' (October 2003) was recorded in France, and was Stereolab's first release following Hansen's death. Music journalist [[Jim DeRogatis]] said that the EP marked a return to their earlier, harder sound—"free from the pseudo-funk moves and avant-garde tinkering that had been inspired by Chicago producer Jim O'Rourke".<ref name="DeRogatis (2003)">{{cite news | last=DeRogatis, Jim | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4194873.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103034504/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4194873.html | archive-date=3 November 2012 | work=Chicago Sun-Times | publisher=Sun-Times News Group | title=Stereolab, "Instant O in the Universe" (Elektra) | date=5 October 2003}}</ref>

Stereolab's eighth album, ''[[Margerine Eclipse]]'', was released on 27 January 2004 with generally positive reviews,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/stereolab/margerineeclipse?q=stereolab | website=Metacritic | title=Margerine Eclipse | access-date=6 June 2007 | archive-date=12 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114110/https://www.metacritic.com/music/margerine-eclipse/stereolab | url-status=live }}</ref> and peaked at number 174 on the US Billboard 200. The track "Feel and Triple" was written in tribute to Hansen; Sadier said, "I was reflecting on my years with her&nbsp;... reflecting on how we sometimes found it hard to express the love we had for one another."<ref name="McNair (2004)"/> Sadier continued, "Our dedication to her on the album says, 'We will love you till the end', meaning of our lives. I'm not religious, but I feel Mary's energy is still around somewhere. It didn't just disappear."<ref name="McNair (2004)"/> The ''[[The Observer|Observer]]'''s Molloy Woodcraft gave the album four out of five stars, and commented that Sadier's vocal performance as "life- and love-affirming", and the record as a whole as "Complex and catchy, bold and beatific."<ref>{{cite news | last=Woodcraft, Molloy | url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/reviews/story/0,,1133242,00.html | work=[[The Observer]] | title=Stereolab: Margerine Eclipse | date=1 February 2004 | access-date=11 June 2007 | archive-date=12 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114050/https://www.theguardian.com/observer/omm/reviews/story/0,,1133242,00.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Kelefa Sanneh commented in ''Rolling Stone'' that ''Margerine Eclipse'' was "full of familiar noises and aimless melodies".<ref>{{cite magazine | last=Sanneh, Kelefa | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/4938923/review/5943038 | magazine=Rolling Stone | title=Margerine Eclipse | date=5 February 2004 | access-date=15 September 2017 | archive-date=12 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114128/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/ }}</ref> ''Margerine Eclipse'' was Stereolab's last record to be released on American label Elektra Records, which shut down that same year.<ref name="Eliscu (2004)">{{cite magazine|last=Eliscu, Jenny |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/stereolab/articles/story/6085957/warner_to_ax_eighty_artists |magazine=Rolling Stone  |title=Warner to Ax Eighty Artists |date=3 June 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016075201/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/stereolab/articles/story/6085957/warner_to_ax_eighty_artists |archive-date=16 October 2007 }}</ref> Future material would be released on Too Pure, the same label which had released some of the band's earliest material.<ref name="beggars.com">{{cite web | url=http://www.beggars.com/us/monade/index.html | website=Official Website | publisher=Beggars Group, USA | title=Monade | access-date=26 May 2007| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070202110910/http://www.beggars.com/us/monade/index.html| archive-date = 2 February 2007}}</ref>

[[File:Stereolab glass house (2878601320).jpg|alt=|left|thumb|Stereolab performing in [[Pomona, California|Pomona]], California in 2008]]
The group released six limited-edition singles in 2005 and 2006, which were anthologised in the 2006 compilation ''[[Fab Four Suture]]'', and contained material which Mark Jenkins thought continued the brisker sound of the band's post-Hansen work.<ref>{{cite news |last=Jenkins |first=Mark |title=STEREOLAB "Fab Four Suture ..." |url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-110126.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214064733/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-110126.html |archive-date=14 December 2018 |access-date=11 December 2018 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=17 March 2006 |language=en}}</ref> By June 2007, Stereolab's line-up comprised Tim Gane, Lætitia Sadier, Andy Ramsay, Simon Johns, Dominic Jeffrey, Joseph Watson, and Joseph Walters.<ref>{{cite web |via=[[MySpace]]|title=Stereolab |url=http://www.myspace.com/stereolab |access-date=12 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080707041641/http://www.myspace.com/stereolab |archive-date=7 July 2008}}</ref> In 2008, the band issued their next album under the label [[4AD]] titled, ''[[Chemical Chords]]'', which "[downplays] their arsenal of analog synths in favor of live instrumentation".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://fasterlouder.junkee.com/st-jeromes-laneway-festival-line-up-2009/796275|title=St Jerome's Laneway Festival line-up 2009|date=12 October 2008|work=FasterLouder|access-date=8 March 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114050/https://music.junkee.com/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In April 2009, Stereolab manager Martin Pike announced a pause in their activities for the time being. He said that it was an opportune time for the members to move on to other projects.<ref>{{cite web |last=Breihan |first=Tom |date=2 April 2009 |title=Stereolab Go on Hiatus |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/34993-stereolab-go-on-hiatus/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114128/https://pitchfork.com/news/34993-stereolab-go-on-hiatus/ |archive-date=12 January 2021 |access-date=14 August 2018 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |language=en}}</ref> ''[[Not Music]]'', a collection of unreleased material recorded at the same time as ''Chemical Chords'', was released in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stereolab: Not Music Album Review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14838-not-music/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112114111/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14838-not-music/ |archive-date=12 January 2021 |access-date=25 December 2017 |website=Pitchfork}}</ref>