Flaming Lips' New Album Reminiscent of John Lennon 'On Crack'

The Flaming Lips' current theatrical release, 'Christmas on Mars,' was often facetiously compared to 'Chinese Democracy' simply because it took the band forever to make it. But fans won't have to wait until Mars is colonized for the next Flaming Lips album.

According to frontman Wayne Coyne, the new Lips disc might even arrive by summer. "It's been a couple years since we did 'At War With the Mystics,'" Coyne told Spinner. "We're going to go to [longtime Lips producer] Dave Fridmann's place at the very beginning of March, and I think with the batch of things we already have, we might have a record out by June or July." That's exciting news, but it gets better.

While Coyne concedes that 'Christmas on Mars' took up a lot of the band's time -- between touring the Earth in a giant flying saucer and leading 1,000 flaming skeletons on a death march in Oklahoma, that is -- he and bandmate Steven Drozd have sketched out a number of ideas that will, like all Flaming Lips albums, explore new soundscapes and fantastical themes.

So what's in store this time? Coyne says that some of the songs are reminiscent of John Lennon during his Plastic Ono Band era (think 'Mother'), and others will take on the adventurous characteristics of 'Bitches Brew'-era Miles Davis. "I don't know if it will still sound like that by the time we finish," Coyne cautions. But as of now, he maintains, it's shaping up to sound like what would happen "if John Lennon got together with Miles Davis, they smoke some crack, find a giant computer together somewhere in the future, spend a couple weeks together, Yoko doesn't show up (I'm kidding; I love Yoko Ono) ... but, yeah, something like that."

Ladies and gentlemen: the Flaming Lips!