The Flaming Lips working with Bon Iver, Yoko Ono, and Nick Cave on their new album

Photo By Erik Hess

The Flaming Lips at SoundTown

​If anyone can pull off this mad concoction it's the Flaming Lips. As if their idiosyncratic sound and the unhinged musical themes of their past albums wasn't enough, the Lips have now recruited a talented batch of disparate special guests to work with them on their new record. In addition to the already announced collaborations with Yoko Ono, Nick Cave, Neon Indian, and Edward Sharpe, you can now add Bon Iver to that impressive roster of musical guest stars who are planning on working with the Lips on their forthcoming record.

The Flaming Lips' frontman Wayne Coyne is hoping the still in-progress album is finished in time for a planned release Record Store Day on April 21st, and is working hard to get all the collaborations in place. While the recordings with the other artists are either finished or still in the process of coming together, Coyne has hopes to recruit other musicians to help the band realize their current artistic vision. He is still on a mission to bring Lykke Li, Ke$ha, and Erykah Badu in to the studio to apparently add a distinct, feminine touch to their untamed sound.  

Whether something magical materializes out of these collaborations or not, the Lips certainly have captured the attention of the music world yet again with their boundless ambition and their propensity to transcend both boundaries and expectations. Coyne and company are never complacent or comfortable, and even though the band have taken some obvious missteps and many sonic detours   throughout their distinguished nearly 30-year career, they have always remained weird, interesting, and entertaining, as evidenced by their rousing weekend-closing performance at last year's SoundTown Music Festival.

Photo By Erik Hess

​They keep surprising their fans with their audacity and scope, whether it's covering in its entirety an album as revered and mythologized as Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon, recording a sprawling six-hour song, or releasing music housed in a gummy scull which fans can gleefully consume while listening, the Lips have never been dull or predictable.

And I hope the news of these forthcoming collaborations result in yet another bold musical statement from both the band and the artists they are working with. Whatever the end result is, I for one will be listening, and I'm sure most music fans will be as well.