Flaming Lips Tap Kacey Musgraves for Sprawling Psychedelic Anthem ‘Flowers of Neptune 6’

The Flaming Lips have shared an expansive new song, “Flowers of Neptune 6,” that features backing vocals from country star Kacey Musgraves.

“Flowers of Neptune 6” boasts a sprawling arrangement that begins as a sparse bit of psych-folk but steadily builds to a lush and orchestral peak. The song arrives with a video, directed by Wayne Coyne and George Salisbury, that finds Coyne, wrapped in an American flag, wandering around a field — sometimes in his famous bubble ball — while sporadic fires flicker in the background.

In a statement, Coyne said that “Flowers of Neptune 6” began as a series of melodies that Steven Drozd had crafted. “The first time he played it for me I was stunned by its emotional flow,” Coyne said. “The three sections (well they seem like sections to me) seemed to hint at an older, mature mind reflecting back into a journey from younger innocence then starting to learn and understand and keeps going into the panic of becoming one with the world. The opening lyric ‘Yellow sun is going down so slow… Doing acid and watching the light-bugs glow like tiny spaceships in a row…’ is the coolest thing I’ll ever know… and is a combination of blissful, innocent, psychedelic experiences that Steven and Kacey Musgraves (she sings harmony with me on the track) and myself all discussed.”

“Flowers of Neptune 6” marks the first new song from the Flaming Lips since their 2019 album, King’s Mouth. Back in March, though, the band Deap Lips — a collaboration between the Flaming Lips and Deap Vally — released their self-titled debut album. The Flaming Lips also recently appeared in the new film Arkansas, in which they covered the George Jones classic, “He Stopped Loving Her Today.”