THE FLAMING LIPS: Not Psychedelic - rather psychotic

Although it appears to come from a very dark place - possibly a much darker place than any of the other Flaming Lips albums (not particularly surprising considering that Wayne Coyne is in a pretty dark place himself at the moment) this album is a thing of fragile beauty.

Although I enjoyed the last album Embryonic (in fact it was my album of the year back in 2009) this album is far less self consciously experimental. Embryonic sounded like they set out to be weird. The Terror sounds like they got out of bed with massive hangovers and just played what came naturally.

Opening with grating industrial slabs of noise, opener Look... The Sun is Rising is the ugliest and most confrontational song on the album, which is probably a good thing because it batters you into submission before applying a series of strange and often astringent balms to the wounds.

Try to Explain is the first classic Flaming Lips ballad, and even that is a two edged sword. On this album nothing is ever quite what it seems. The tunes (when they arrive) are gorgeous but never go quite where you expect. The instrumentation is uncompromising in the extreme. I have only heard it twice and already it is one of my favourite records of the year. Not psychedelic as much as psychotic in the true sense of the word, this album is a true event - the latest in a series of remarkable events orchestrated by a remarkable band.