Les Claypool talks new Primus music and Angine de Poitrine comparisons: “There is a new life in this band”

The prog icon also talks plans to make a stage play with Sean Ono Lennon, the first UK Primus shows in nearly a decade, advice for new artists, and why viral duo Angine de Poitrine feel like an antidote to the rise of AI music

Les Claypool has spoken to NME about his latest album with Sean Ono Lennon , how a “new energy” that Primus haven’t seen for “many years” is inspiring new material, and comparisons to viral duo Angine de Poitrine.

‘The Great Parrot-Ox And The Golden Egg Of Empathy’ with Lennon dropped in May and marked the third LP from the duo as part of The Claypool Lennon Delirium. Structured as a psychedelic-prog concept album, the record follows the narrative of an AI robot gradually turning humanity into paperclips, but also holds themes of empathy, mortality and free will at its core.

“Shiner [Claypool’s nickname for Ono Lennon] is like my brother now,” Claypool told NME over Zoom, explaining that the record took three years to make and was potentially the most challenging project he has ever worked on.

“Coming into the third record, we really wanted to do something special. We set off to do some sort of narrative and came up with a few different notions, and eventually settled on this,” he said. “It was the longest record we’ve done and it was one of the most difficult records I’ve ever made, because when you’re working on a concept you have to stick within the parameters of that narrative.”

The album has sparked conversation over its references to the impact of artificial intelligence on manking – but the real message, Claypool told us, was not meant to be a discussion about AI, but rather about a general lack of compassion he and Lennon have observed.

“The funny thing is, the whole AI element of the storyline arose when we started this three years ago, and while the technology was on the horizon, it wasn’t as prominent and in your face as it is now,” the frontman explained. “It was just meant to be the conduit for the story, not the focus. The main point of the story is meant to be the loss of empathy that we’re seeing in society.”

Check out the rest of our interview with Claypool below, where he also told us about why Primus are feeling “rejuvenated” in time for their 2026 UK and European tour along with plans to drop a new record, hopes to make a stage play with Sean Ono Lennon, comparisons to Angine de Poitrine and more.