Brainwasher Ignites with LP ’39 Lightyears from Heaven’: Flaming Lips Alums Forge a Sound All Their Own
[Article and interview by Hoang Nguyen Ortiz]
Brainwasher’s debut LP, 39 Lightyears from Heaven, debuted October 24th on Mothland. The band consisting of Matthew Duckworth Kirksey (vocals, drums, keyboards, sampler) and Tommy McKenzie (guitar, bass, keyboards, sampler) — are best known for their work with The Flaming Lips, Miley Cyrus, Brothers Griiin, Beachy Head, and Net. The duo returned with their fiery new single “Burning Cars” (feat. Spaceface) September 9.
“Burning Cars” is politically charged, fusing the band’s trip-hop and psych-rock leanings with celestial vocal layers. Lyrically, the track critiques political rhetoric, societal self-deception, and our collective tendency to cling to comfortable myths—even in the face of truth or consequence.
Together, they’ve created a warped blend of trip-hop, industrial, shoegaze, and new wave — stripped-down and psyched-out music designed to speak directly to the lizard brain.
39 Lightyears from Heaven was more than a decade in the making. The album’s ten tracks form a sprawling sonic essay where offbeat rock collides with distorted electronica, pulling inspiration from David Lynch’s surrealism, Nick Cave’s elegant punk moxie, and Portishead’s brooding experimentalism.
So, we say, society as a whole — “We Say Things Are Getting Better,
But Why Are We Burning Cars?”
Hoang Nguyen Ortiz: So, you both have shared that “Burning Cars” was written during the George Floyd protests and later filmed in Germany while touring with The Flaming Lips. What was running through your mind as this song took shape?
Matthew Duckworth Kirksey: When visiting Berlin, I was surrounded by these massive monuments to war and trauma, and I kept thinking about how history never really goes away. We wrote “Burning Cars” at the height of the [George Floyd] protests, and it just hit me: we keep telling ourselves things are getting better, but are they? It’s like watching the same film
on repeat.
Tommy McKenzie: That’s exactly it. There’s this illusion of progress, but it’s hard to ignore the bleak things still happening around us. The video being shot in Germany made that feeling even stronger. You’re standing in these places filled with history and tragedy, and yet those same cycles keep replaying in new forms.
“Music Is Triumph on Top of Tragedy”
Hoang Nguyen Ortiz: The visuals you captured with director Blake Studdard, they feel raw and spontaneous, almost journalistic. What was the creative process behind filming it?
Matthew Duckworth Kirksey: It was completely improvised. After our Berlin show, I told Blake and Tommy, “Let’s just go film something.” We realized these spaces [In Germany] carry the weight of the past, and we wanted to honor that. We wanted to create something that holds a mirror up to it.
Tommy McKenzie: When we got back home, it really hit me how much it connected to Oklahoma City — especially with the Murrah Building bombing. That’s part of our collective memory as Oklahomans. You realize how trauma and violence — political or otherwise — live on in the landscape.
Matthew Duckworth Kirksey: Totally. Earlier this year, I went to the Thunder victory parade with my baby, and as the parade passed by the bombing memorial, it felt surreal. Celebration in front of tragedy — that’s the human condition. Music, for me, is about putting triumph on top of tragedy.
“39 Lightyears from Heaven” and the Long Road to Arrival
Hoang Nguyen Ortiz: After ten years in the making, what can fans expect from 39 Lightyears from Heaven?
Tommy McKenzie: It’s exciting to finally share it. These songs have lived with us for a long time, through different seasons of life, and now they finally have a home.
Matthew Duckworth Kirksey: We hope people feel something from it — that it gives them an escape, the same way making it gave one to us. The world feels like it’s burning sometimes, but if you can channel that into sound, it’s a kind of therapy.
Hoang Nguyen Ortiz: You’ve both worked with some massive artists. How did that influence Brainwasher’s sound, and what makes this project feel different?
Matthew Duckworth Kirksey: We’ve both had experiences where you’re contributing to someone else’s vision — which is great — but with Brainwasher, this was ours from start to finish. No compromises. It’s freeing to build a world that’s completely your own. This record was our own thing, freeing and honest”
Tommy McKenzie: Yeah, it’s something we’ve been working on for ten years, and a lot of the songs came together in 2020–2021. I wondered if it would sound cohesive, but it really does. It feels like all those years and experiences finally lined up in a way that makes sense.
On How Oklahoma City Has Kept Them Grounded
Hoang Nguyen Ortiz: The Oklahoma City music scene seems to have a real community-driven energy. How has that shaped you?
Matthew Duckworth Kirksey: Community’s everything. We’ve been championed by Wayne [Coyne], who’s taken us on tour and supported what we do. Any time we get to connect with people here [in Oklahoma], like the artists making weird, beautiful, interesting music, that’s the
heartbeat of it.
Tommy McKenzie: Yeah, there’s so much music happening here with so many record labels, projects, sounds. It’s a small city, but it’s incredibly diverse creatively. That environment really pushes us to keep evolving.
Hoang Nguyen Ortiz: What’s next for Brainwasher?
Matthew Duckworth Kirksey: We’ll be touring next year for the record. Between that and The Flaming Lips, it’s going to be a busy year — but we thrive on that. My wife works in film, so we’re used to this cycle of either working 24 hours a day or not at all.
Tommy McKenzie: (Laughs) Yeah, it’s all or nothing. But right now, it’s definitely all.