Flaming Lips Ponder Extinction in ‘Dinosaurs on the Mountain’

The Flaming Lips get nostalgic for the Mesozoic era on their new song, “Dinosaurs on the Mountain,” set to appear on their upcoming album, American Head, out September 11th via Warner Records.

The track is a dreamy folk-rock tune that ebbs and flows on waves of thick psychedelia and to-the-rafters rock & roll. Frontman Wayne Coyne seems to ruminate on the extinction of the dinosaurs, but in a way that resonates with our own ominous era: “Up on the mountain they’d be all alone,” he croons, “You can’t just leave them/On the side of the road/You know they’ll never make it on their own/All alone, all alone.”

“Dinosaurs on the Mountain” arrives with a new video as well, directed by Coyne and George Salisbury. The clip was shot in Oklahoma during quarantine and actually offers a potential — albeit probably complicated — solution to performing concerts during the COVID-19 era: Put everyone in one of Coyne’s famous plastic bubbles.

“Dinosaurs on the Mountain” follows previously released American Head tracks “Flowers of Neptune 6,” which features Kacey Musgraves, and “My Religion Is You.” The album makes the band’s 21st full-length studio effort and follows last year’s King’s Mouth.