The Flaming Lips are back with The Teardrop Throbs, their 17th studio album and first since 2020's American Head. It arrives Jan. 22 as the band's first release on Third Man Records, the independent label run by Jack White, Ben Blackwell and Ben Swank, Consequence, Rolling Stone and Pitchfork reported. Consequence and Pitchfork describe the gap as nearly seven years; Rolling Stone puts it at six.
The band shared lead single "God Will Control the Werewolves," a piano-led track that builds into a lush psych groove before cutting off abruptly. Wayne Coyne said it grew out of a game of hide and seek with his sons, Bloom and Rex, during a full moon. "I told him God would control the werewolves for a little bit while we played hide n seek," Coyne said, according to Rolling Stone, adding that he imagined the song as Dark Side of the Moon with Syd Barrett still in Pink Floyd.
A new lineup and a long statement
The record was produced by the band with Dave Fridmann, Taylor Johnson and Scott Booker. It is the band's first album without multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd, who joined in 1991 and said late last year he was done with the group after a personal crisis. Drozd and Coyne have offered conflicting accounts of why he left, Rolling Stone and Pitchfork noted. Consequence also cited the departure of longtime member Michael Ivins.
In a sprawling statement, Coyne said the album draws on the devotion of fatherhood, thoughts about life and mortality, surreal everyday moments and classic film, including music from The Night of the Hunter that inspired opening track "Throb." The 13-song tracklist also includes a sequel to Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots' "Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell."
Two nights in each city
The band will play intimate two-night runs at Brooklyn Bowl on Jan. 22 and 23, Irving Plaza on Jan. 26 and 27, The Bellwether on Feb. 23 and 24, Metro on Feb. 27 and 28 and O2 Shepherds Bush on April 2 and 3. The first night pairs the full new album with songs from 1986 to 1999; the second features reimagined versions of the new material plus songs from 2002 to 2020, with promises of tracks never played live and others unheard in decades.
An artist presale opens Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 10 a.m. local time, followed by a Live Nation presale on Thursday and general sale on Friday, Oct. 30.
Reporting sources: Consequence, “The Flaming Lips Announce New Album The Teardrop Throbs on Third Man Records, Share New Song: Stream” · Music News, “Flaming Lips Announce First Album in Six Years and Concert Series in U.S. and U.K.” · RSS: News, “The Flaming Lips Reveal New Album The Teardrop Throbs”.