Mercury Rev / Photo by VK Red Duvivier

"We thought this record should sound like it was made by a different Mercury Rev," drummer/keyboardist Jeff Mercel said of the band's forthcoming album, Snowflake Midnight (out Sept. 30). "We began to look at the process. And then we dismantled it." And album track "Snowflake in a Hot World" only gives positive credence to their newfound methodology.

Though retaining the time-honored act's dream-pop sound, the tune has an unstructured feel and an even spacier studio glisten; intertwined vocals, floating keys, and all sorts of knob-twisting wizardry fuse into a pulsing, soothing tune that climaxes in a synth-driven clamor. "Light inside the dark / Lonely little spark / Too frozen to feel / So fleeting and so real," vocalist Jonathan Donahue chirps atop gliding backing vocals, bolstering the track's eerie qualities with his abstract lyrics.

"We embraced technology to a greater extent on this album than ever before," Mercel added. "We completely opened ourselves to the possibilities out there." And with "Snowflake in a Hot World," Mercury Rev's exploratory approach pays off.

Now Hear This: Mercury Rev, "Snowflake in a Hot World" (DOWNLOAD MP3)