Phish bassist Mike Gordon returns to the road on the heels of 2014’s Overstep, his fourth studio album. The band’s new repertoire will be augmented by secret synesthetic mad scientist gadgetry on and around the stage.

Most artists have a fixed ritual or routine that they rely on to inspire their efforts from concept to fruition. Gordon tends to establish general goals, and then eschew routines for creative experiments. One of his goals for his latest album was to trust himself to relinquish control, which he accomplished by sharing songwriting duties and by handing over the producing reins for the first time in his solo career to Paul Q. Kolderie (Radiohead, Uncle Tupelo, Pixies).

The result is a diverse but tightly knit family of sturdy rock numbers that manages to sound grounded but sophisticated at the same time, and raw but carefully considered. Gordon draws inspiration from an astonishing variety of sources, from the natural world to the emotional world to his often persistent visions. Like Gordon himself, the album is full of contradictions, juxtapositions, and surprises – which is exactly what his fans expect.