Since the seven-years-in-the-making Christmas On Mars came out just in time to be a postmodern stocking stuffer last year, we figured those psychedlic songsmiths in The Flaming Lips were up to something. Turns out they’re up to a whole lot: Wayne Coyne tells Billboard today that they plan to release a double album later this summer. Stereogum previously reported that the tentative title is Embryonic, or, Coyne says, “something else, but we think it’s gonna be called Embryonic. You can write that if you want and not be humiliated later.” Strangely, it’s the ambitious band’s first double album, though 1997′s Zaireeka was a quadruple album, though all four discs were intended to be played at once, though that’s another subejct entirely.

The Beatles seem to be a reference point for the new set, though Billboard enticingly describes one track as “Joy Division meets Miles Davis”. Coyne describes shifting their focus to a lack of focus:

Somewhere along the way it occurred to me that we should do a double album. Just this idea that you can kind of weave a couple of themes into there and you can sort of sprawl a little bit. Our past couple of records we’ve always had this little dilemma, like how many songs do you put on? How many instruments do you put on? What’s the focus? And some of my favorite records – thinking Beatles White Album, Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti and even some of the longer things that the Clash have done – part of the reason I like them is that they’re not focused. They’re kind of like a free-for-all and go everywhere.

Embryonic, or “something else”, is reportedly planned for an August or September release.