Andy Molholt twists vast assortments of wonky sounds into kaleidoscopic psych-pop as Laser Background, and later this week he’ll release a whole batch of knotty new tunes on his album Dark Nuclear Bogs (an anagram of the band name). It’ll serve as the follow-up to last year’s deliciously dizzying Correct and finds Molholt softening some of the project’s rougher edges to make for a listen equally as inventive but that goes down a bit easier.

“Francine” is a mid-tempo ballad that manages to blend warbly ringing and a geometric guitar line into a dreamy mosaic. Meanwhile “Climb The Hill” uses Saturday morning cartoon keyboards alongside a relentless drum machine to create a melodiously twisted fantasy. And on “Slubberdeguillion,” Moholt throws his voice through a blearing processor to sound like nothing short of an intoxicating nightmare. Altogether, the album congeals into a remarkably holistic listen. As Molholt explains:

The first track “Mostly Water” is meant to be a song about birth, about beginning anew, and the last track “Bright Field” is very specifically about death. So there is a bit of a journey to this album, and a lot of self-reflection. I intentionally repeated words, phrases, musical ideas, etc. in different spots on the record.

Listen and check out the band’s upcoming tour dates below.

Tour dates:
04/25 – Annandale-on-Hudson – Bard College / Root Cellar ^
04/27 – Boston, MA – The ER ^
04/28 – Ridgewood, NY – Trans-Pecos ^
04/29 – Philadelphia, PA – Baird Mansion Atrium ^ %
04/30 – Pittsburgh, PA – Brillobox ^
05/01 – Lakewood, OH – Mahall’s ^
05/02 – Detroit, MI – El Club ^
05/03 – Toronto, ON – Smiling Buddha ^
05/04 – Montreal, QC – Le Ritz PDB ^
05/05 – Winooski, VT – Waking Windows ^
05/06 – Bloomington, IL – Secret Farm show ^
05/07 – Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle ^
05/08 – Milwaukee – The Local Club Anything
05/09 – Rock Island, IL – Rozz-Tox
05/10 – St. Louis, MO – Foam
05/11 – Hot Springs, AR – Maxine’s
05/12 – Fayetteville, AR – Backspace
05/13 – Dallas, TX – Armoury D.E.
05/14 – Austin, TX – Hotel Vegas
05/15 – San Antonio, TX – Limelight
05/16 – Houston, TX – Walter’s Downtown
05/17 – New Orleans, LA – Siberia
05/18 – Atlanta, GA – The Earl %
05/19 – Knoxville, TN – Pilot Light
05/20 – Raleigh, NC – Ruby Deluxe
05/21 – Richmond, VA – Gallery5
05/24 – Arcata, CA – Richards’ Goat Tavern
05/25 – Portland, OR – The Know #
05/26 – Seattle, WA – Lo-Fi Performance Gallery #
05/27 – Vancouver, BC – Hidden City Records #
05/28 – Olympia, WA – Le Voyeur
05/31 – Sacramento, CA – Starlite Lounge ?
06/01 – San Francisco – Different Fur Studios
06/02 – Oakland, CA – Eli’s Mile High Club
06/03 – Los Angeles, CA – TBA
07/07 – Brooklyn, NY – The Glove ?
07/08 – College Park, MD – The Void ?
07/09 – Philadelphia, PA – Everybody Hits ?

^ w/ Norwegian Arms
% w/ Breathers
# w/ Jo Passed
? w/ Pregnant

Dark Nuclear Bogs is out 4/28 via Mutual Crush/Endless Daze. Pre-order it here.