NEVER DID I think I would see the day that the show stealing track on a Flaming Lips album would be the one chiefly sung by Miley Cirus, but then Miley long stopped being predictable.
The track is 'We A Family' is an epic, anthemic track, and while not as heartbreaking as 'Do You Realise?', it bursts with love, hope, and a deep poignancy. And despite the sonic distortions layered over much of Miley's vocals, they cannot fully overshadow a fine performance from her. Indeed it provides a strong conclusion to the Lips first 'proper' album since 2013's The Terror.
While the Lips remain as psychedleic as ever - the title track sounds like theme music to a lost sci-fi show from the 1970s - there is a noticeable absence of the larger than life gestures of their noughties heyday (Yoshimi, At War With The Mystics ), for a sound that is quieter, more melodic, with atmospheric textures, pervaded always by a deep melancholy.
After an uncertain period for the band and some odd albums - did the world really need a note by note cover version of Sgt Pepper's Lonley Hearts Club Band? - this is certainly a return to terra firma. Dare I suggest their collaboration with Miley on her Dead Petz album helped them there?
