Despite the hyperbolic "return to their roots" ranting surrounding the new Flaming Lips album Embryonic, it really is a unique and sonically engaging record, and more interesting than anything I've heard from the band in years. If the last few albums were all blinding light and larger than life technicolor fantasies,this album lives on the dark side of psychedelia, turning inward to ponder and explore existential questions in relation to space and time. The sound is Krautrock meets Prog meets early Pink Floyd...the vocals often pushed back in the mix. Its not very accessible, sometimes impenetrable, but somewhat rewarding upon repeated listening.

I would love to see a rapid succession montage of facial reactions from people whose favorite Lips song was "Do You Realize" listening to this album for the first time.

I've included "Silver Trembling Hands" here, which was best described by a BBC reviewer as "Pink Floyd’s One of These Days performed by Bitches Brew-era Miles, conducted by Burt Bacharach, with Bill Bruford on drums and the Six Million Dollar Man on bass."


Silver Trembling Hands