Daiana Feuer on September 29th, 2016

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Micah Nelson says his band Insects vs Robots “is an organic reaction to this apocalypse era we’ve grown up in, this age of chaos, where the world is always ending.” If anything, the story behind the title track from the band’s new album, “Theyllkillya,” speaks to that truth. The night Nelson, Jeff Smith, Tony Peluso, Milo Gonzalez and Nikita Sorokin were recording the song at Hen House studios, police shot an unarmed young black man steps away from the Venice Beach studio, and helicopters were circling overhead while they were singing. “It was serendipitous and disturbing,” Nelson says. “We got these chills down our spines, like, ‘OK, I don’t know what this means but we’re gonna keep recording this song.’” The world feels like it’s collapsing, and music might not save it but it can sure help us cope. To that end, Insects vs Robots will release their new album on Oct. 11, which pulls together their fears, hopes, dreams, hallucinations and social commentary into a psychedelic, cosmic folk orchestral jam to be smeared on crunchy toast and eaten off someone doing a backbend’s stomach. “Theyllkillya” is the band’s second release of the year, following the March 1 EP, “Stupid Dreams,” and their fourth full-length since forming in 2008. Bassist Jeff Smith says, “I hope “TheyllKillYaa” will make people feel something other than the fear and frustration a lot of us are feeling.” To which Nelson adds, “And I hope they’ll then start paying a little more attention to what’s happening to themselves and everyone else.”

||| Listen: “Theyllkillyaa”