And it sounds brilliant.

At the end of October, I told you about Plover, which was Glen Phillips’s collaboration with Garrison Starr and Neilson Hubbard.

In January, Glen released an EP called Secrets of the New Explorers that he co-produced with a fellow named John Askew. It was a quirky, odd, but entirely lovely exploration of life and love in the great beyond.

Now Glen and John are back with another new project called Veteran of the Loudness Wars, under the banner of Remote Tree Children.

I have never heard anything like it.

Fans of Toad the Wet Sprocket’s more rock-oriented songs will love the return of Glen’s angry rock-god voice on the chorus of “Chimera.” (John sings the verse.)

“Copper Mining” finds Glen’s voice going all over the place, fusing space-age rock with old-school funk. Amazing.

My favorite, by far, is “Blood Pressure Rise.” It’s got a bass part that’s been processed to sound super wicked — thanks for the sonic assist, Bob — and the lyrics are really, really hot. Favorite line: “Push ourselves together, lock and key. You make my heart beat harder. Loud as a symphony.”

Listen to the song right here:

[bandcamp track=4280260254]

And “Copper Mining” here:

[bandcamp track=1938061550]

And buy the album here.

Not all of it’s my particular cup of tea, but it’s a masterpiece of experimentation, and Glen’s voice has rarely sounded better. Check it out and support good music!