The Flaming Lips have returned with their first new song of 2020, “Flowers of Neptune 6”. It’s a psychedelic slow burn, and features backing vocals from Ms. “Slow Burn” herself, Kacey Musgraves.
Over mellow acoustic guitars, frontman Wayne Coyne spins a tale of “Doing acid and watching the light-bugs glow.” But The Flaming Lips are never content to just rock on about getting high, and “Flowers of Neptune 6” quickly melts into the more introspective mode of a man searching his past. “John’s still a greaser and Tommy’s gone off to war/ James got busted and doesn’t give a fuck any more,” he sings.
In a statement, Coyne explained how the track came together.
“”Flowers Of Neptune 6″ track started off as a very evocative series of melodies that Steven Drozd had woven together. The first time he played it for me I was stunned by its emotional flow. The 3 sections (well they seem like sections to me) seemed to hint at an older, mature mind reflecting back into a journey from younger innocence then starting to learn and understand and keeps going into the panic of becoming one with the world. The opening lyric ‘Yellow sun is going down so slow…Doing acid and watching the light-bugs glow like tiny spaceships in a row…’ is the coolest thing I’ll ever know…and is a combination of blissful, innocent, psychedelic experiences that Steven and Kacey Musgraves (she sings harmony with me on the track) and myself all discussed.”
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The accompanying music video was directed by Wayne Coyne and George Salisbury. It shows Coyne with an American flag draped across his shoulders, traveling in his hamster ball (the original social distancing device) across the burning Oklahoma plains. Check out “Flowers of Neptune 6” by The Flaming Lips below.
This past spring, the Lips teamed up with Deap Valley for the album Deap Lips. Last year the rockers released Soft Bulletin Recorded Live at Red Rocks, as well as their 17th studio album, King’s Mouth: Music and Songs.
