We had a chat with Hallucinophonics about their new single ‘Afternoon of Acid Rain’ and its fully immersive 3D video
A band that are growing increasingly knowing for their rich, psychedelic sound and their dedication to crafting a multi-faceted and often multi-media listening experience that is packed full of creativity and thoughtful ideas, Hallucinophonics are an exciting UK band who meld the surreal with the immersive to create vibrant and resonating art that sticks with you as a listener.
Their new single ‘Afternoon of Acid Rain’ is a track that encapsulates everything that makes the band feel unique and special, with a captivating narrative that traverses from darkness into light and a 3D spacial music video that brings everything together in even more realised and compelling fashion. It is a track and a vision that feels like a great representation of Hallucinophonics on the whole, and we had a chat with the band to find out a bit more about it and the inspirations behind what they do.
Hey! We love your new single ‘Afternoon of Acid Rain’, what more can you tell us about it?
Thank you! “Afternoon of Acid Rain” is probably our most surreal and inviting track to date. It’s a psychedelic rock journey that moves from dark, hallucinatory imagery to a genuinely warm, welcoming resolution. The song populates this fever dream landscape with candy corn girls, crocodile women with jellyfish hearts, avalanche people with glassy-eyed stares, and a seven-foot chicken wielding a six-foot guitar. It sounds absurd — and it is — but there’s a real emotional arc underneath all of it. The recurring challenge, “Who in the hell do you think you are?”, starts as confrontation but becomes an invitation to shed your identity and surrender to the experience. The whole thing arrives at this conclusion that wherever you end up, it might as well be a warm place. Come on in. The water’s fine. It’s absurdist philosophy set to a steady 115 BPM groove with retro warmth — we wanted the music to feel as inviting as the message.
What was the process like putting it together?
It came together quite organically. The foundation is built on electric and acoustic guitars, bass, and percussion — we wanted that flowing, retro warmth throughout. The vocal delivery was key — we needed this deadpan conviction that could carry the absurdist narrative and make the bizarre feel profound rather than silly. There’s a fine line between surreal and ridiculous, and the tone of the performance is what keeps it on the right side. The production leans into analog warmth and psychedelic textures while maintaining a steady groove that pulls you through the whole journey. We also released it in Dolby Atmos, which adds another spatial dimension to the layering. And the fully animated music video on Vevo was a major part of the vision — bringing all these characters to life visually was always part of the plan. The song demanded to be seen as much as heard.
What were your biggest influences when creating it?
The DNA is very much Pink Floyd’s storytelling ambition crossed with Tame Impala’s psychedelic production sensibility, but this particular track also draws from The Flaming Lips’ ability to find genuine emotion inside absurdity, and a bit of Syd Barrett’s playful surrealism. There’s some Beck in there too — that willingness to throw seemingly random imagery together and have it somehow make emotional sense. We were also thinking about bands like King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard and Ween, artists who prove that psychedelic music doesn’t have to take itself seriously to be meaningful. The arc from darkness to light was influenced by the classic psychedelic journey narrative — the idea that you have to pass through the strange and unsettling to arrive somewhere beautiful.
The track has a fully 3D spatial music video, what more can you tell us about that?
We’ve converted our animated Vevo music video into an immersive spatial 3D version using depth estimation technology. It’s available on YouTube in side-by-side 3D format and on platforms like DeoVR for VR headset users — Apple Vision Pro, Meta Quest, and others. The idea was that a psychedelic music video is already trying to create an immersive experience on a flat screen, so why not actually put the viewer inside it? When you watch it in a headset, the candy corn girls and the seven-foot chicken aren’t just on a screen anymore — they have depth, they occupy space around you. It transforms the viewing experience from watching a trip to being inside one. We’re one of very few artists releasing spatial 3D music videos right now, and we see it as the future of how immersive music will be consumed. The VR audience is still niche, but they’re incredibly engaged — these are people actively seeking out immersive experiences, which is exactly what Hallucinophonics is about.
What else do you have planned for the near future?
We have a full catalogue of spatial 3D music videos rolling out over the coming weeks — each of our Vevo videos that lends itself to the format is being converted for VR platforms. “Afternoon of Acid Rain” itself will get a second music video in about six weeks, which will also be released in 3D — we want to give the track multiple visual lives and let audiences experience it from different angles. Looking further ahead, this is one of the tracks we’re planning to include on our third album, tentatively called “Wide Awake”, which we’re aiming for the second half of 2026. That record will bring together our more surreal, psychedelic material into a cohesive journey.
Right now, the main focus is building the catalogue — creating music and visual experiences at the highest quality we can. Every release gets the full treatment: streaming, Dolby Atmos, animated Vevo visuals, and those that suit the format get spatial 3D conversions. Some releases we experiment with vinyl and CD pressings as well. We’re also exploring binaural audio rendered from our Atmos masters for headphone listeners. Eventually, we plan to redesign our website as a true centrepiece — a place that brings together all the visual assets, music, and storytelling into one immersive destination where people can really explore the Hallucinophonics world at their own pace. But for now, it’s about the music and the visuals. Close your eyes and listen, or open them wider than ever.
