That Eric Alper

The Claypool Lennon Delirium are back. Les Claypool and Sean Ono Lennon have announced their third album, ‘The Great Parrot-Ox and the Golden Egg of Empathy,’ due May 1 via ATO Records, and it arrives as their most ambitious project to date. A 14-song concept record built around morality, mortality and the warnings of artificial intelligence, the album is rooted in the “Paperclip Theory,” the renowned thought experiment about AI safety, and asks a pointed question: in the face of rampant, single-minded efficiency, can human values and empathy survive. The physical edition arrives as a 2-LP tip-on gatefold set paired with a 24-page original comic book, with each song mapped to its own illustrated chapter by longtime collaborator Rich Ragsdale. Vinyl and CD are available for pre-order now.

The album’s story centers on young artist Hippard O. Campus Jr., who rebels against his father, owner of the CLIPNEX corporation and creator of a sentient AI named Cliptron, whose army of robots is converting everything in the land of Cliptopia, humans included, into paperclips. Hipp’s quest takes him across the sea to the Isle of Lucidity, guided by the Ministry of Manatees toward the Great Parrot-Ox, whose Golden Egg of Empathy is the only force capable of reaching Cliptron’s cold, chrome heart. “It is a tale of a technocracy eclipsed by paperclips,” Lennon says, “a young man destined to unravel the fabric of his father’s folly, and a sacred feathered Goddess, played by WILLOW, who holds the egg-shaped key to their future.”

Out today alongside the album announcement is the new single and animated music video “The Golden Egg of Empathy,” featuring WILLOW, whose lead vocal turns the Delirium’s psychedelic-prog theatrics toward something strangely tender and human. The video offers the first moving glimpse into the album’s visual universe, animating the rich illustrations that populate the comic companion. It follows January’s first single “WAP (What a Predicament),” which opened this new chapter with a warped meditation on AI and what happens when empathy gets optimized out of existence. Listeners and critics alike have been calling this the duo’s most fully realized and thematically urgent work yet, a surreal epic that earns every one of its 14 chapters.

The comic book originated from an even larger vision. “Initially Les and I were imagining a feature-length animated film for Parrot-Ox,” Lennon explains, “but we realized there wasn’t enough time, so we asked Rich if he could distill the story into a comic book. He did an incredible job. Now that the story exists in this form, it’s even easier to imagine it becoming a feature someday.” Recorded at Claypool’s Rancho Relaxo studio in Sonoma County and Lennon’s studio The Farm in upstate New York, the album was over three years in the making. “The results are something Shiner and I are very proud of,” Claypool says, “a relevant concept piece accompanied by a colorful, phantasmic comic book.”

The full track listing for ‘The Great Parrot-Ox and the Golden Egg of Empathy’: “Pro-Log,” “WAP (What a Predicament),” “The Wake Up Call,” “Meat Machines,” “Troll Bait,” “Simplest of Deeds,” “Heart of Chrome,” “Through the Horizon,” “Mantra of the Manatee,” “The Golden Egg of Empathy” (feat. WILLOW), “Cliptopia,” “Cliptron Scuttle,” “Melody of Entropy,” and “It’s a Wrap.” Following the album’s release, Claypool hits the road with Claypool Gold, a full-evening tour bringing together Primus, The Claypool Lennon Delirium, and Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, each performing a full set. Tickets and information at primusville.com.