As if finally unleashing a wave of suppressed sadness, the song began life as a response to the story of a Japanese fan who had died of a mysterious heart disease after travelling across the world to see them. Listen: The Flaming Lips ‘Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots’ Musical Lead-Up Playlistīut the album’s most potently melancholic tear-jerker arrives in the form of ‘Do You Realise?’. Similarly, on ‘Ego Trippin’ At The Gates Of Hell’ Coyne reflects on personal failings with lines such as “I was waiting on a moment, but the moment never came”, seemingly trying to justify these missteps to himself more than anyone else. Opening with the refrain, “I have forgiven you for tricking me again/ But I have been tricked again/ Into forgiving you”, on ‘Are You A Hypnotist?’ the frontman ruminates on the nature of exploitative relationships, dissecting the issue with enough poetic ambiguity to mirror the sublime effect of the song’s artificially choral background. Whilst no doubt an entertaining and memorable opening to the album, it’s in the LP’s later tracks that Coyne switches to what is evidently a more straightforwardly sincere approach. Listen: The Flaming Lips ‘Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots’ Legacy Playlist Shot through with a sense of internal conflict that mirrors the fantasy outer battle between man and machine, it’s a touching method of humanisation which prevents the album from floating too far off into the sky. Whilst bright and neon-tinged on the surface, Coyne shades these songs with moments of profound reflection notably on opener ‘Fight Test’ with lines such as: “If it’s not now, then tell me when would be the time that you would stand up and be a man?”. Ultimately, the album’s lush instrumental soundscape seems far more eager to please than shock – an effort to lure you into its world with the understated power of a lullaby. Likewise, Drozd’s drum playing and programming nestles comfortably in the mainframe, it’s hiphop inspired rhythmic complexity stretching and contorting around the soft robotic curves. On ‘In The Morning Of The Magicians’ synths emulate human vocals and stringed instruments, blending seamlessly with the plaintive crooning of Coyne, who sounds perfectly at ease with this uncanny simulation of life.
Channeling bands like Pink Floyd on songs such as ‘Fight Test’ and ‘Yoshimi Part 1’, synthesisers rub pleasingly against the rustic charm of acoustic guitar and funky drums, creating an unlikely harmony that conjures images of a world in which man and machine live side-by-side.Įlsewhere robotics seem to imitate the emotional complexity of human expression. The album manages an often elegant marriage of futuristic technology and ancient songwriting tradition. Coyne, who spent two days designing and painting the record’s sleeve art, aptly summarises: “When you see that album cover, you know that the music could sound no other way.”Ĭheck out our Flaming Lips Classic Album Sundays sessions this March in London, Washington D.C. The album’s unconventional title would be the jumping off point for the generation of the entire project, as the band applied this far-flung concept to a steady stream of musical ideas emerging in its wake.
The band’s songwriting skills had grown considerably, precipitating their transition towards a crazier, psychedelic pop sound, aided by recent advances in studio technology and bolstered by their recent critical successes. Named after Yoshimi P-we, the drummer of Japanese band The Boredoms (who appears throughout the album), Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots sought to capture the delicate duality of life and death, happiness and misery, love and heartbreak. Fronted by madcap showman, Wayne Coyne, the album held hidden depths beneath its neon exterior, sparking rumination on the grand, perennial themes of life, death, and love. Following the back-to-back release of two of their most celebrated albums to date, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots marked a bold step in a new direction, as the band explored fresh technical intricacies and expanded the oddball aesthetic with which they were becoming synonymous. But in the hands of The Flaming Lips, anything can be a conduit for visionary rock storytelling. To be frank, it’s a concept that just shouldn’t work. It’s a safe bet to assume you haven’t heard many albums that weave robots, kung-fu and a young Japanese woman into their central theme.
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