Never ones to shy away from outlandish ideas, The Claypool Lennon Delirium are back with an extravagant new concept album. The Great Parrot-Ox And The Golden Egg Of Empathy finds Primus bassist Les Claypool and Sean Ono Lennon reconnecting over a whimsical tale that’s inspired by a thought experiment on AI. Prog caught up with the pair to learn more about their latest prog opera and their ambitious plans for touring it.
In 2003 Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom devised a thought experiment centred on the programming of an AI whose sole objective was to produce paperclips. Given its advanced rate of learning, the AI’s survivalist approach would eventually lead it to compete with humans for appropriate resources; and given its super-intelligenc, likely win the battle. Known as the Paperclip Maximizer, the theory essentially suggested that AI may well render all human endeavour obsolete. Cheery stuff.
But one man’s apocalypse scenario can be another’s creative spur. This is where The Claypool Lennon Delirium come in. The Great Parrot-Ox And The Golden Egg Of Empathy – the first album in seven years from the combined forces of Les Claypool and Sean Ono Lennon – is a fantastical concept work that warns against the perils of unchecked technology and reinforces the need for human connection. The whole idea is bolstered by a 24-page comic book conceived by longtime ally Rich Ragsdale.
“Because we were going in to make our third album, I think Les and I both wanted something extra-special,” says Lennon. “We’d always thought it would be cool to do a Delirium rock opera, like Tommy or S.F. Sorrow, or even Yellow Submarine. I’d been thinking a lot about AI and the paperclip dilemma and all that stuff. And Les had a whole bunch of characters that he’d come up with. So we just started incorporating them into this world and building out the story.”
The tale takes place in the fading dominion of Cliptopia, where an army of robots – led by advanced AI figure Cliptron – are assimilating everything, humans included, into branded paperclips. The only form of resistance is Hippard O. Campus Jr. (rebel son of the Clipnex corporation’s founder) and his doughty seafaring pal, Colonel O’Coren. Their quest involves the Isle of Lucidity, a Ministry of Manatees and, ultimately, an encounter with the Great Parrot-Ox of the album title.
It all sounds like a lark, and indeed it often is. But behind the surreal narrative and playful imagery lie sobering questions about the abuse of power, societal collapse and the value of compassion.
“Initially, we’d been kicking around some ideas about a longform animated project,” says Claypool. “Then as we started working on it, we found the songs had a bit of a thread to them. In terms of subject matter, it just happened to work out for us that we’re all now in the midst of discovery and fear and confusion and glory, however you want to perceive it.”
The belated follow-up to 2019’s cosmically inclined South Of Reality, The Great Parrot-Ox has been three years in the making – which is perhaps less to do with labour than it is logistics. Aside from his day job as leader, bassist and chief songwriter of Primus, the prolific Claypool has also been involved with other schemes, including the Fearless Flying Frog Brigade ensemble.
Lennon hasn’t been slacking either. An honorary Flying Frog himself, he’s been juggling a solo career with production duties for Temples and The Lemon Twigs, as well as being immersed in projects related to his parents. He co-wrote and co-produced 2023’s Oscar-winning animated short War Is Over! Inspired By The Music Of John And Yoko; and last year’s Mind Games box set, which he art-directed, landed him a Grammy.
Notwithstanding all these things, The Claypool Lennon Delirium is unique among their respective ventures. It’s a place where dramaturgical prog meets rich psychedelia, a voyage of discovery that mixes pathos, humour and hallucinatory invention. Pop-accessible one moment, Dadaist the next. The Great Parrot-Ox is easily the pair’s most ambitious statement yet.
The Delirium was founded on great chemistry. They even have pet names for one another: Lennon is Shiner, Claypool is the Colonel. “I feel like we complement each other because we’re very different,” say Lennon. “Les always teases me that I’m the Paul and he’s the John in the Delirium, because I tend to write more melodic structured songs and he’s just super out there and experimental. Not that I don’t have an experimental side – I do enjoy helping him finish off those weirder songs – but I think it’s a nice balance. There’s a kind of yin and yang going on.”
“Shiner and I are both fans of old psychedelia, and we’re constantly turning each other on to different things,” adds Claypool. “But we have a mindset when we get together. It’s very enjoyable working with him. We laugh, we argue, we go crabbing in the ocean, we chase wild mushrooms. And Shiner’s incredibly musical. Obviously he has the genetics – not just from his father, but his mother as well. There’s an abstract element to him that I think is somewhat under-appreciated. And that’s my world; I love that shit. So it’s just a good fit.”
The duo tend to operate very differently: Claypool is a master of spontaneity, a grab-the-moment kind of guy, while Lennon tends to pore over an idea, adding elements and layers as he sees fit, continually refining. Their music finds its golden meaning in the tension between the two. “We tug at each other all the time,” says Claypool with a laugh. “It’s those conflicts and differences of opinion that make the unique magic. I throw warts and barnacles and pimples at it, then there’s this beauty that Shiner throws at it.”
The new album has plenty of both, from the Zappa-like devilment of Claypool’s Troll Bait (and its bizarre Willy Wonka-ish choral sections) to the acid-rock chug of Lennon’s Melody Of Entropy. Then The Golden Egg Of Empathy is a prime illustration of how they feed off one another. The song is powered by a dazzling Claypool bass vamp that hops and snaps like popcorn under heat. “I had the melody and the chords, and I asked Les to come up with some amazing funk bass line to open it up,” recalls Lennon. “And he just did it on the spot! The recording you hear is the first time he ever played it.”
(Image credit: Jay Blakesberg)
Adds Claypool: “That’s just the way I work. I’ve done a lot of records with Tom Waits, where it’s always about capturing moments. And those are the glorious moments.”
The Golden Egg Of Empathy is one of several tracks that signpost the Delirium’s prog credentials. That bass line feels akin to Tony Levin’s early 80s work with King Crimson. “Tony is one of my all-time favourites,” says Claypool. “I adore that guy’s playing. I was a big 80s Crimson fan and then got into earlier Crimson through working with Shiner, because that’s where he came from.”
Everybody thought my father was crazy for buying me a bass. They thought I was going to be a loser drug addict
Les Claypool
“My favourite Crimson records are Larks’ Tongues and Red,” says Lennon. “Les is more into the Discipline era, but I never got into that stuff until I met him. In fact, we play Thela Hun Ginjeet live. I’ve been a prog fan since I was 17, pretty much. Discovering Mahavishnu Orchestra’s The Inner Mounting Flame totally changed my life. That then led to Crimson, Yes and weirder bands like Soft Machine and Utopia; all that stuff. And Genesis, who were so sophisticated, and their stages too. It almost felt like the classical music equivalent of rock music. It feels like where Sgt. Pepper was headed, showing the world that rock’n’roll could be high art. I still think of prog rock – the good stuff anyway – as the peak for me. It was everything I wanted music to be: epic, conceptual, experimental.”
By contrast, Claypool cites Geddy Lee as a formative influence. “In the early days I was obsessed with Rush,” he says. “I was about 14 when I went to my first concert: Rush at the Cow Palace in San Francisco with Pat Travers opening [in November 1978]. And I was always a huge Yes fan, a major Chris Squire fan. I’ve bought Fragile multiple times over the years. It’s just a spectacular piece of music.”
Prog leanings aside, he and Lennon have arrived at their current point through very different routes. The deeply strange The Wake Up Call – another highlight of The Great Parrot-Ox – references Claypool’s childhood in working-class California, where he was born into a family of car mechanics. The thrust of the song – ‘So you want to be an artist? Dabbing colours all the day?’ – suggests that careers in the creative field were frowned upon.
“Everybody thought my father was crazy for buying me a bass guitar, because they thought I was going to be a loser and a drug addict,” Claypool remembers. “My dad was always very supportive, but he always did say: ‘Look, kid. The music thing’s great, but learn a trade.’ But I’m a firm believer that anything you can get a kid to focus on is a wonderful thing. Just having something you’re proud of gives you self-esteem. I had to explain the whole perspective of The Wake Up Call to Shiner, because he didn’t get it.”
It was so weird being the son of John Lennon… I’ve now gotten to a point where I actually like what I do
Sean Ono Lennon
Indeed, a career in music seemed inevitable for Lennon. At the same time, his motivation was uniquely complex. “I feel like I wound up playing music for different reasons than other musicians,” he says. “I don’t even think I played because I had talent; I played because of that feeling of wanting to get closer to my dad. With my first couple of solo albums [1998’s Into The Sun and 2006’s Friendly Fire], I was so insecure because it was so weird being the son of John Lennon and trying to write my own songs.
“But I’ve since been in five or six bands, toured hundreds of times and written a lot. I’ve now gotten to a point where I actually like what I do, which is sort of new for me. The older I get and the more songs I write, the more I feel like I’m pretty good.”
The Great Parrot-Ox is more than pretty good. In fact, it’s the best thing Lennon has ever put his name to. And in Claypool – his on-off collaborator for a decade now – he may just have found his perfect foil. Alongside Primus and Colonel Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, the Delirium are playing the States as part of this summer’s Claypool Gold tour. And while Primus will then gear up for their first UK dates in nine years, the Delirium may also be here, in their own right, sometime soon.
“We’re talking about possibly doing shows early next year,” Claypool reveals. “We want to bring The Great Parrot-Ox stage production together, incorporating Rich Ragsdale’s amazing art and vision. If it’s financially viable, it’d be residencies in various places. It would be so cool to set up at a theatre somewhere in London and have it run for a handful of days.”
“I would love to tour the UK,” enthuses Lennon. “Put it in the article! Maybe it’ll convince the agents to let us do it!”
The Great Parrot-Ox and the Golden Egg of Empathy is on sale now.
(LouderSound)
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