thevoid99's Full Review: Embryonic by Flaming Lips
When the Flaming Lips scored a massive commercial and artistic achievement with 2002's Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. The Oklahoma-based band, consisted of vocalist/guitarist Wayne Coyne, guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Steve Drozd, and bassist/keyboardist Michael Ivins, were now staging huge spectacles that was amazing for a band of their status. While they were an indie band that was signed to a major label, they continued to be a band that was their own thing. 2006's At War with the Mystics was well-received though many felt the band had become more conventional as opposed to their more freakier, unconventional musical style of the early years. After completing and releasing Christmas on Mars in 2008, the Lips returned to the studio with new live drummer Kilph Scurlock for their 12th studio album entitled Embryonic.
Produced by the Flaming Lips with longtime collaborator Dave Fridmann and Scott Booker with songs written by the band. Embryonic is an album that returns the band to the unconventional, freak-out music of the 1980s and early 1990s with elements of art-rock. With guest appearances from Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, synth-pop band MGMT, and German mathematician Dr. Thorsten Wormann. The record delves into a myriad of lyrics subject matters as it is presented as a double album filled with over 70 minutes of music. The result is a weird, sprawling, and chaotic album from the Flaming Lips.
The opening track Convinced Of The Hex is an abstract, chaotic track with bleeping synthesizer melodies, sturdy bass lines, scratchy guitars, thumping beats, and Wayne Coyne's cool, robotic vocals. With its esoteric lyrics, the song is psychedelic-inspired, mid-tempo cut that is all over the place in its arrangements as it paves the way for what is to come for the album. The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine is a bouncy yet dreamy track with bell-like flourishes from the keyboards with Kilph Spurlock's sputtering drums and Michael Ivins' droning bass lines. With swanky guitar noises and Coyne's dreamy vocals with cosmic-laden lyrics, it's a song that driven by atmosphere and chaotic sound textures. Evil is a spacey, synthesizer-driven track with soothing keyboard melodies and soft bass tracks. Coyne's somber vocals includes some dark, melancholic lyrics that is accompanied by rich backing vocals and soothing arrangements until a fuzzy bass track arrives to add an ominous tone to the beautiful ballad.
Aquarius Sabotage is a wild, freak-out instrumental track with scratchy guitars, sputtering drum fills, loopy bass lines, and percussion flourishes as it takes everything off course and into a world of jam-inspired rock until it becomes this beautiful, soothing piece with orchestral-like arrangements. See The Leaves arrives with fast, menacing drum fills and Ivins' sinister bass line with bell-like keyboard tracks and Coyne's calm vocals. With its dark, chaotic lyrics and Steve Drozd's fragmented, distorted guitar tracks, it stops for a bit with waves of spacey synthesizers that swirl through as Coyne continues to sing. IF is a two-minute track with soothing keyboard tracks and Coyne's soft vocals filled with dreamy lyrics as he is accompanied by soft electronic bleeps while his vocals is mixed in a hollow presentation.
Gemini Syringes, with Karen O & Dr. Thorsten Wormann, is led by a slow, bouncy bass line with Wormann's voice talking through amidst an arrangement of chime-like synthesizers and washy guitar tracks. Coyne sings the song's esoteric lyrics with O joining along surrounded by its dreamy arrangements. Your Bats is led by Scurlock's sputtering, rumbling drum fills with driving bass line and dreamy synthesizer tracks by Drozd. Coyne's soothing vocals with its esoteric lyrics as he is followed by sounds of droning horns and bass tracks. Powerless is a soothing, experimental ballad with melodic bass and guitar riffs with slow, distorted beats and Coyne's warbled vocals. Featuring some psychedelic-inspired lyrics, the song is a relic of early Pink Floyd ala A Saucerful of Secrets with guitar flourishes from Steve Drozd.
The second disc begins with The Ego's Last Stand, an abstract yet chaotic track with Ivins' sturdy bass line, tapping xylophones, and Coyne's soothing vocals. Featuring wailing vocal harmonies, soothing flourishes of keyboards, and grinding guitars, the track becomes a more upbeat, crashing track due to Scurlock's charging drums as Coyne sings more psychedelic-inspired lyrics. I Can Be A Frog is a dreamy song with Coyne singing about being an animal with Karen O making animal noises after each verse. Featuring a serene arrangement of guitar and keyboard flourishes, it's the most accessible song on the album as well as one of the weirdest. Sagittarius Silver Announcement is a weird track led by Ivins' distorted, melodic bass line with Coyne counting things down and singing abstract lyrics with wailing vocal harmonies in the background. With washy guitars on the bridge, it's a song that revels in its abstract presentation.
Worm Mountain, with MGMT, arrives with sounds of droning bass lines, chime-like keyboards, thumping drum tracks, scratchy synthesizers, and wailing vocals from Coyne and MGMT as they sing weird, esoteric lyrics. With the drums intensifying along with the vocals, Drozd provides some distorted, siren-like guitars in the performance. Scorpio Sword is an instrumental track of wailing guitar riffs, rumbling drum fills, and sounds of crashing percussions with flourishing chimes as it delves into chaos. The Impulse is a dreamy ballad with soothing keyboards and a slow hi-hat cymbal tap as Coyne sings through a vocoder. With its robotic vocals and esoteric lyrics, it's a wonderful yet strange cut.
Silver Trembling Hands is an upbeat track with wailing vocal screams, driving bass lines, bouncy beats, and flourishing chimes as Coyne sings in his calm vocal style. Featuring some abstract lyrics, it's a song that revels in its ode to psychedelia. Virgo Self-Esteem Broadcast is a track that features Dr. Thorsten Wormann as he speaks throughout the entire track. With its ominous arrangements of spurting guitar sirens, wailing electronics, and a choir of harmony vocals. It's a soothing yet exotic track that revels in the Lips' love of experimentation. The final track on the album Watching The Planets, with Karen O, is a mid-tempo track with bouncy beats and flourishing keyboard tracks. With thumping bass lines and swanky guitars, Coyne sings spacey lyrics with O singing backing vocals. It's a raucous yet mesmerizing track that goes all over the place to close the chaotic album.
Embryonic is a fantastic, sprawling, and versatile album from the Flaming Lips. Fans of the band's earlier work as well as their mid-90s albums like Zaireeka will definitely enjoy it. Fans of more accessible albums like The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi might feel baffled over the lack of conventional tunes as it shows the Lips returning to elements of psychedelia. With great production, lots of amazing ideas, and performances by the band with guest appearances from Karen O, Dr. Thorsten Wormann, and MGMT. Embryonic is surely, another winning album from the Flaming Lips that ranks up there with their stellar catalog of albums.
Track Listing1. Convinced Of The Hex2. The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine3. Evil4. Aquarius Sabotage5. See The Leaves6. If7. Gemini Syringes8. Your B...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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