Origins is a recurring series that gives artists a platform to break down everything that went into their latest release. Today, The Octopus Project guide us through their reimagining of the “Reading Rainbow Theme” featuring The Flaming Lips.
Earlier this year, a documentary about the beloved children’s series Reading Rainbow titled Butterfly in the Sky was released in theaters featuring a soundtrack from Austin’s The Octopus Project. Ahead of the album’s upcoming release on June 28th via Earth Libraries, the band has unveiled their reimagining of the “Reading Rainbow Theme” featuring vocals from The Flaming Lips.
The Octopus Project tell Consequence that they were able to follow in the footsteps of the theme’s original composer Steve Horelick while creating their own version thanks to a sequence in the documentary.
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“When we were asked to work on the score for Butterfly in the Sky, it was proposed in terms of spinning out a whole world from the feeling of that intro,” they explain. “It turns out there’s a sequence in the film in which Steve Horelick recreates the process he went through to make the opening arpeggio, tweaking a Buchla until that familiar magical sound appears. If you are any kind of synth nerd this scene alone is worth watching the documentary for.”
With the idea of going “big and hopeful” on their version, The Octopus Project couldn’t think of anyone who would be a better fit than The Flaming Lips: “Wayne [Coyne] simultaneously embodies the childlike wonder of Reading Rainbow and an almost euphoric level of optimism, so naturally he was our first choice to ask about tackling the vocals.”
Though Coyne admits to Consequence that he “didn’t really remember” Reading Rainbow, you’d be hard-pressed to tell given the results.
Watch the Gabriella Molina-directed animated music video for The Octopus Project’s rendition of the “Reading Rainbow Theme” below, followed by the full Origins breakdown.