Track listing: Dolphin Girl, Lipstick and Furs - Arbitrary Cash-in Edit, Lucozade and Vodka

Psychedelic, ethereal, mystical, gothic--all of these and more come to mind as Flowers for Juno's latest "Dolphin Girl" pours out of my speakers. The beat pounds, phased/distorted guitars lay an eerie backdrop, and Benjó James' strategically hyper-processed vocal glides smoothly over it all. It's the first of 3 tracks on the single's release, paired with "Lipstick and Furs - Arbitrary Cash-in Edit" and "Lucozade and Vodka."

Awash in layers of reverb & synths, "Dolphin Girl" to me represents the color, emotion, and darkness of Eric Draven's aesthetic in The Crow--mysterious and magical on a dark and stormy night. Flowers for Juno's Benjó James explains, "I went out in Newcastle and ended up at this goth night; I seemed to be the only person drinking, dancing, and having fun, and although I like the music I don't relate to goth culture at all, and I'd rather listen to Seal most nights than The Sisters of Mercy. I wrote and recorded this somewhere between a hangover and a shift at my bar job. No idea what genre FFJ even are at this point." Experimentation. Musical freedom and expression. It's all in there.

Included with the single is a remix of "Lipstick and Furs," this version a bit more ominous than the original track. And then there's "Lucozade and Vodka"--way off target, those chords take me right to SWV's MJ sample of "Human Nature" in their hit "Right Here." But that's not the overarching feel of the song at all, as it serves more as an instrumental outro/interlude kinda bringing in some brightness and optimism to the previously goth-centric sound.

We get further into Flowers for Juno's vibe in this follow-up interview with FFJ mastermind Benjó James.