5/10

Label: Bella Union  |  Released: 25.06.12.

As much as I love The Flaming Lips, IÔÇÖll be the first to admit that with every album they make, there are songs which take self indulgence to the point of tedium, ballads which are deliberately hard to listen to, or ironically mawkish, but which nevertheless slow the pace of the album down. Normally for every dud there will be some instantly lovable songs to make up for it, but there are not enough of these on Heady Fwends to balance it out, making it sound like a compilation of b-sides rather than a flowing album. Considering the amount of talent on this album, including cult legends Nick Cave and Yoko Ono and current indie darlings Bon Iver, Neon Indian and, er, Ke$ha, itÔÇÖs no wonder that the likes of NME are fawning over it. There are definitely some brilliant songs here which rescue the album, including the opener 2012 (You Must Be Upgraded) which sounds like a Ke$ha song with added jittering guitar shreds, the hazy cover of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and the reverb soaked wig-out of That AinÔÇÖt My Trip with My Morning Jacket, but these are almost lost in the plodding collaborations with Bon Iver and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, whose talents go disappointingly unnoticed amongst the boring mess of the songs. However, if youÔÇÖre prepared to wade through the dross, then you will be rewarded.

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