It won't surprise too many fans to hear that the new Flaming Lips song is about death—many of the band's are. But death for the Flaming Lips hasn't been a particularly scary proposition in a long, long time. Since Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Wayne Coyne has caked his ruminations on the great beyond in enough puppets and sunshine to fill an entire afternoon block of PBS children's programing. That's why the new leaked track from the Lips' upcoming double-album Embryonic is such a welcome surprise: "See the Leaves" details death with a tangible sense of fear. A noisy, mechanical head trip, it replaces their usual "Do You Realize??" optimism with a black tide of dead leaves, ominous bugs and a faltering sun.
The band's last couple albums have been medicine for the soul. "See the Leaves," though, is pure cancer:
