Flaming Lips Unleash “Hell”
The Flaming Lips will conclude a year of constant touring and odd collaborations with the November 18th release of Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell, a seven-song EP.
In addition to a pair of remixes of “Ego Tripping,” and one of “Do You Realize?” the EP includes four new tracks, including the holiday ditty, “A Chance at Christmas (Say It Isn’t So).”
“In America, the idea of putting out singles doesn’t really exist anymore,” says Lips singer Wayne Coyne. “We’ve amassed these different remixes, but we’d used up virtually everything else of any quality, so we went up to [producer] Dave Fridmann’s studio and had some luck.”
Coyne describes one new track, “Sunship Balloons,” as “Yes meets John Coltrane.” The other new songs are the instrumental “I’m a Fly in a Sunbeam (Following the Funeral Procession of a Stranger)” and “The Assassination of the Sun.”
“It’s some kind of mature reassessment of the both sides of my troubled philosophy,” says Coyne of “Assassination.” “If there’s no God, there must be a lot of science. But if it’s just science, there’s no gloriousness out there. It seems like one defeats the other, and I like both.”
Also, Coyne had promised fans a Christmas song this year, but was reluctant to rehash a standard, so he channeled his holiday obsession into writing “A Chance at Christmas.”
“People’s sympathizing with other people’s suffering is heightened around Christmas,” he says. “My song says, ‘Why can’t it stay that way?’ It’s a longing, and I’m including myself in that longing. If we see suffering in the world and feel a connection with other people, why do something only at Christmas?”
The Flaming Lips will tour the West Coast with the Red Hot Chili Peppers starting October 8th in Las Vegas and wrapping up two weeks later in Seattle.
The Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell track listing:
Assassination of the Sun
I’m a Fly in a Sunbeam (Following the Funeral Procession of a Stranger)
Sunship Balloons
Do You Realize?? (Jimmy Tamborello Mix)
Ego Tripping (Ego in Acceleration Mix)
Ego Tripping (Self-Administration with Blow-Up Mix)
A Chance at Christmas (Say It Isn’t So)
Flaming Lips, Red Hot Chili Peppers tour dates:
10/8: Las Vegas, Mandalay Bay
10/9: Phoenix, Cricket Pavilion
10/11: Inglewood, CA, The Forum
10/12: Irvine, CA, Verizon Amphitheater
10/14: San Diego, Coors Amphitheater
10/17: Oakland, Oakland Coliseum
10/18: Sacramento, CA, Arco Arena
10/20: Portland, Memorial Coliseum
10/21: Seattle, Key Arena