The Flaming Lips — Oczy Mlody ANALYSIS & REVIEW
Published 1/19/2017
Of the three main musical elements that I discuss here, melody played the least important role in the beauty of this album overall. This does seem a little disheartening, since melody most always holds the key to listener’s engagement and distinction in music. That’s not to say that the melodies here were unsuccessful or detracting. While not given much importance within the texture, the melodies still had nice recognizable features and shapes. The best part about the melodic lines in this album was their form, and how they signaled change in section only to come back again and let the listener connect with something familiar. This is an old but important technique, and The Flaming Lips did it in a much more subtle way than the common verse-chorus form, which was appreciated.
Getting towards the end of the album, I was nervous that there weren’t going to be any great melodic standouts, but then came the songs “Listening to the Frogs with Demon Eyes” and “The Castle”, both of which finally had substance and solidity to be a force on its own along with adding to the texture. Because of this, those were the two best songs on the album in my opinion. Not only did they find a good balance, but they also found a relatable musical idea for listeners to hold onto. This was not the case for most of the album. Songs like “There Should Be Unicorns” and “Do Glowy” had very lifeless and nonchalant lines that worked to a degree, but carried no meaningful weight to them.
The Flaming Lips employed an obvious pyramid structure to their songwriting, with overall sound and atmosphere being the bottom foundation, the actual musical events and progress in the middle, and the individual musical lines settled on top at the point. I find many modern musical groups writing this way, be it by choice or by happenstance. The Flaming Lips achieve this balance very well here, and melody does a good job at being the top of the pyramid, or the icing on the cake, or whatever you prefer. I personally don’t think this way of creating music can ever really produce anything incredible or timeless, but it can be done well, as evidenced in this album.
If not for the wonderful timing and delicateness of the harmonic movement, this album may have simply comes across as a wish-wash of feel-good lameness. Instead, The Flaming Lips exemplify the power of what strong and surprising harmonic changes can do to anything in any setting. Even music that seems very static and slow can employ a multitude of progressions and sections that are held together in the slightest and neatest of ways. Some songs certainly did it better than others. “Sunrise (Eyes of the Young)” and “Almost Home (Blisko Domu)” both had incredibly strong movement and ingenuity in each section and transition. The song “Galaxy I Sink”, though, never quite got that spark from the harmonic structure. Although it was a nice progression with a good use of bVI, it didn’t progress enough to other spaces in order to keep giving something useful to the music.
Overall, I especially enjoyed when the bassline was more active and present, as in “Oczy Mlody” and “One Night While Hunting for Faeries and Witches and Wizards to Kill”, because through its rhythm it led the music to a place where everything could thrive better and sound like one collective unit. The harmony is ultimately what separates this album from the many others that try first and foremost to create an interesting atmosphere. While I dislike comparing new albums to music that already exists, I will say that the creativity here makes this album definitely one of the better neo-psychedelic works I’ve heard today.
I’ve already been talking a lot about how everything is revolving around the sound and the atmosphere that is created. Timbre was the most important feature of this album, being the bottom foundation on the pyramid, and it certainly doesn’t disappoint. This album had a remarkably strong use of electronics and sequencing that could either make you feel like you’re dreaming or make you want to dance. The sound did lack some identity and variety from song to song, so it did miss out on some freshness. Due to the invigorating and breathtaking sound that was already in place, though, there was nothing too dull and therefore not a terrible miscue.
I think that the timbre’s best accomplishment was making very long and drawn-out forms seem to pass by in the blink of an eye, all while sounding very calm and cool. The songs “Listening to the Frogs with Demon Eyes” and “Nigdy Nie (Never No)” did this exceptionally well, with the timbre being the element that leads the listener through a journey that you wish would last longer. There were lots of similar sounding songs, and while that may not be incredibly effective with the ever-changing foreground, there was never an absence of quality and was overall a very pleasing listen.
The Flaming Lips are a good example of a band that is always at the drawing board trying to come up with something new, rather than simply expound on their past successes. This is hugely important in the world of music, because this is essentially what keeps music alive today. Sure, I missed some catchy tunes here and there in this album, as I’m sure others did too, but the constant experimentation and surprise that was found still makes this a very worthwhile listen, especially to those who enjoy a bit of daring while still feeling comfortable. While it was daring, it also wasn’t anything terribly new. That metaphor of the pyramid structure has been done many times, and it takes a certain dose of special heavenliness that the album didn’t have. It’s not a very accessible album for the general public. It will get attention for The Flaming Lips name, though, and is another installment of a very successful modern experimental rock group.
