In the Morning of the Magicians – The Flaming Lips

Beef up your 'mixtapes' with this growing collection of overlooked songs, old and new. One track, up to three times a week. Don’t forget to join in on the conversation, too.

‘And I couldn't remember/What is love and what is hate/The calculations error’

They’re a band that long ago started playing in bubbles, whose frontman got married in a bubble, and who experimented with pandemic shows in which fans were protected in bubbles. And fresh off a sad and fruitless dialogue with an anti-vaxxer cousin… man, do I need a dose of the Flaming Lips. This weird, bewildering beautiful stuff – particularly off 2002’s Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots – is an antidote to the foulest of moods. If you’ve somehow missed out on the magic, dive in (repeatedly) until you understand the enchantment, and immediately put a live Flaming Lips show on your bucket list. You’ll no doubt recognize Do You Realize? and probably the eponymous title track, but have (another?) listen to In the Morning of the Magicians… to be reminded of why love matters.