In advance of the release of their new greatest hits album, The Flaming Lips have dropped a new music video for the song “The Captain,” a track that was originally recorded during the sessions for their legendary record The Soft Bulletin. The mammoth 52 song compilation collects plenty of classic material spanning the band’s entire recorded output as well as plenty of rare deep cuts that have never been properly released on an album before. “The Captain” is one of those songs: a densely orchestrated composition that combines plenty of delicate piano and guitar passages with urgent, classical music-influenced drumming.
As usual, frontman Wayne Coyne delivers a solid and captivating vocal line that captures the listener’s attention. The music video is shot in stark black and white, with plenty of stunning visual effects thrown in, including plenty of flames and motion blurs. Set-wise, the video consists of the band rocking through the song in a garage, with plenty of quick cuts and urgent close-ups.
Many fans regard The Soft Bulletin as one of the band’s classic album, as the group began to incorporate orchestral and psychedelic sounds, moving away from their alternative rock influences and developing one of the most unique sounds of any modern band.
The release of this new greatest hits album is another step in the expansive archival project The Flaming Lips have embarked in recently, as earlier this year they released some of their earliest recordings from the early ’80s for the first time.
The band’s latest album of new material, the awesome Oczy Mlody, came out in 2017.
The Flaming Lips will also be hitting the concert stage this summer with Le Butcherettes as the opening act. The tour dates are listed below.
You can watch the music video for “The Captain” in the player below.
Flaming Lips tour dates:
8/16 – Fort Wayne, IN – Clyde Theater
8/17 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Theater
8/20 – Montreal, QC – M Telus
8/21 – Portland, ME – State Theater
8/22 – Providence, RI – The Strand Ballroom
8/24- Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE, Indoors
8/26 – Louisville, KY – Iroquois Amphitheater
Photo credit Mauricio Alvarado
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