The Flaming Lips reveal new sound

And the band are tackling current affairs... The Flaming Lips have revealed further details about how the follow-up to 2002's 'Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots' will sound. The band have also said that their 'At War With The Mystics' album – which is due for release in early 2006 – will be tackling current issues, rather than their usual avant-garde lyrics.

"Without any true intention, I think we've found some guitar-rock things that we're freaked out about," singer Wayne Coyne said. "People will see that some of it has gone more weird rock."

Explaining the concept of the record, he explained: "I don't think you could be making any art in the atmosphere that we're in now — with the war and the different ways people feel about the Bush administration and all that — without having some things that sort of, not address that specifically, but address this whole idea of what you do with power."

Coyne added: "When is the time to have mercy? And when is the time to be aggressive? I think we have some things on the record that I hope will stand the test of time long after this war is over and all these young guys have come home."

Speaking to VH1, Coyne also revealed more details about the upcoming The Flaming Lips film 'Christmas On Mars', which is also due for release next year.

He explained that the plot of the film has changed over the years he has been writing and directing it, saying: "The way that I work is (not) that much different from the way I would do a painting or even the way that we record our music a lot of the time. We go in and we have a lot of energy and enthusiasm for things that we want to happen and sort of try to shape them up. But if we're lucky, something emerges that's really better than what we intended and we'll go with that. If we're lucky, 'Christmas on Mars' will continue to do that."

He added: "We'll have built the sets and have actors there, and of course there'll be things for them to say and all that, but something marvellous will happen and we'll be able to incorporate that into the idea of what we wanted to do and it will be better and more expressive and more communicative and more emotional — all those things that I think all artists intend to do."

The Flaming Lips will head out for a festival with a difference on October 15 when they play on the Xingolati Groove Cruise, which sails from Long Beach in California to Ensenada, Mexico.

Renowned for their eccentric and unpredictable stage shows, which has seen the band incorporate fluffy animal suits and Coyne floating over the crowd in a giant bubble, the singer says that the cruise ship show will be no exception.

He said: "Sometimes I kind of feel like Evel Knievel, seeing where the wind is blowing and how fast he's going to have to go and what the hazards of the day are going to bring. But I think people have come to expect it or want to be part of it, so I'm glad."

source: nme