The Flaming Lips announce new album, share new single

The Flaming Lips have announced details of their first official album for 2020. American Head is due out in September.

Flaming Lips are never far away from the studio. Earlier this year, the iconic Oklahoma band teamed up with LA duo Deap Vally to form Deap Lips. The project’s debut self-titled album came out in March. The Flaming Lips have now provided details of the official follow up to 2019’s King’s Mouth.

American Head will be released on Friday, September 11th. The album’s first single arrived in late May. ‘Flowers of Neptune 6’ was initially believed to be a standalone single, but the album announcement reveals its inclusion on American Head. The track features guest vocals from country pop songwriter Kacey Musgraves. Musgraves will appear on another track on the album, ‘God and the Policeman’.

The album’s second single, ‘My Religion Is You’, is now also available. The title gives you an idea of the song’s thematic structure. Essentially, singer Wayne Coyne doesn’t look to the sky for answers; he gets all he needs from his one true love. He’s careful not to rubbish existing religious frameworks, however. The song begins with this goofy lyric: “Yeah Buddha’s cool / And you’re no fool / To believe anything you need to believe in.”

The Flaming Lips made headlines earlier this month after playing a social distancing gig with both crowd and band situated in giant plastic bubbles. The stunt was organised for an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Each band member hopped in their own plastic bubble, while the live audience members watched from inside their own plastic bubbles.

American Head is approximately The Flaming Lips’ 16th studio album, however their career has given rise to loads of collaborative LPs and limited-release collections. For example, 2014’s With a Little Help from My Fwends saw Coyne and co. collaborate with the likes of My Morning Jacket, Miley Cyrus, Maynard James Keenan and MGMT’s Ben Goldwasser on a full album reimagining of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.