The Flaming Lips have debuted a preview of their new track ‘Sun Blows Up’.
The band wrote the song, which will not feature on their forthcoming album ‘The Terror’, to be used in an advert for car company Hyundai, with the commercial set to air during the Super Bowl on February 3. It is currently being shown on Billboard.
The clip sees singer Wayne Coyne and his bandmates enjoying some breakfast with a family, before taking them on a typically surreal journey involving ostriches and riding inside a giant bubble. The full song will be made available on February 3.
Talking about the track, the band’s multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd said: “It was really a painless experience. We went back and forth with them on the song, but it was pretty effortless, then we went out to LA for two days to shoot the commercial.”
“I would imagine there’d be some residual curiosity of people saying, ‘Hey, what was that, maybe I should check that out,’ and maybe they’ll Google us and see a little bit about us.”
The Terror, which will be the band’s 13th studio album, is set for release on April 1 via Bella Union (in the UK) and was produced by Dave Fridmann and the band at Tarbox Road Studios in New York State. The LP is described as “nine original compositions that reflect a darker-hued spectrum than previous works along with a more inward-looking lyrical perspective than one might expect – but then again, maybe not”.
Frontman Wayne Coyne added: “Why would we make this music that is The Terror – this bleak, disturbing record? I don’t really want to know the answer that I think is coming: that we were hopeless, we were disturbed and, I think, accepting that some things are hopeless. Or letting hope in one area die so that hope can start to live in another? Maybe this is the beginning of the answer.”
The Flaming Lips will also play live in London following the release of The Terror with two London dates announced. They will play:
London Roundhouse (May 20, 21)