After two albums of lushly orchestrated pop that brought them to a new level of acclaim, the Flaming Lips are returning to guitar-based rock’n’roll as they finish up their next studio set. “At War With the Mystics” is due in February or March via Warner Bros. Lips frontman Wayne Coyne tells Billboard.com the group was inspired to plug in after featuring a cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” in its live shows.
“You can’t tell if [the members of Sabbath] are farmers, wizards, hippies or members of a cult,” Coyne says. “It’s mysterious territory. Part of that, we really fell in love with. So, there are some tracks we’ve delved into production-wise, where we’re trying to get some of that heavy rock’n’roll with heavy guitar riffs, but not just to be aggressive. On the last couple of records, we’ve tried to be more expressive in beautiful ways. But sometimes, volume and intensity are great too.”
The idea for one particularly Sabbath-influenced cut, “The Wand,” came to Coyne after observing a homeless man wandering around Oklahoma City who always carries a giant stick with him.
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