Andre Floyd releases first album in 11 years

Eleven years ago — the last time Andre Floyd and Mood Iguana released an album — the world was a different place.

That was the year Wikipedia launched. Apple introduced the world to the iPod. Movie-goers watched the first “Harry Potter” film. Full-sized shampoo bottles were still allowed on airplanes.

“Eleven years ago, we were not the same people we are today. 9/11 changed us forever,” Floyd said. “Most of us are in [post-traumatic stress disorder]. Our culture is in PTSD.”

Mood Iguana’s new album, “Project 2.12,” is about waking from that shell-shocked sensation, Floyd said.

“If it’s at all possible, that would be for the best,” he said.

Like the rest of the country, Mood Iguana has changed in the last 11 years. Since the release of “Lapis,” the band’s last CD, Floyd has moved from Missoula to Kalispell. Band members have moved on or died; other musicians have joined the group.

Exploring those changes on the album wasn’t easy, but it was cathartic, lead singer Floyd said.

“I feel like I just had a child,” he said. “I’ve been pregnant for 11 years.”

His baby is a “community-minded record” about taking action and being nonjudgmental, more compassionate and less competitive, Floyd said. It’s about becoming better readers and making better choices.

“As an artist, I believe you’ve got to stand up,” he said. “You’ve got to do something. You’ve got to say something.”

Some of those messages are directed to listeners in Northwest Montana. “From Here to There” addresses the Flathead Valley in a general sense, Floyd said. “Open Up” is more pointed.

Floyd was inspired to write the song after people screened white supremacist propaganda films at the Flathead County Library in 2010. He said he was shocked the screenings hadn’t been rejected in the interest of public safety.

“It speaks directly to this community,” Floyd said of the song. “I was disappointed this could happen in my own backyard.”

Other songs include favorite Mood Iguana covers, including Van Morrison’s “Gloria” and Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited,” which fans had asked the band to record. But the album’s overall tone is thoughtful.

“I disagree with Paul McCartney: We’ve had enough silly love songs,” Floyd said with a laugh. “Mood Iguana was always designed to be a thinking man’s band.”

The band will play a CD release party Monday at Floyd’s home, the former United Church of Christ at 204 Seventh Ave. W. in Kalispell. Floyd recently moved into the building and turned the sanctuary into a recording studio.

There is room for 140 to 150 people at the party, which will start at about 6 p.m. Because the former church is in a residential area, the party will wrap up early. But because the party is in a residence, people are welcome to bring their own beverages.

Taste This! will cater the event, Floyd said.

“They make good, healthy food,” he said. “I want people to start appreciating quality — with their music and their food.”

That was part of the reason he opted to host the release party instead of holding it in a local bar. Those parties tend to attract people who aren’t necessarily there for the music, Floyd said.

“Music should be the point, not the byproduct, of a CD release party,” he said.

Floyd said he wants his home to be a place to celebrate people and community spirit. Monday’s party is not only the celebration of the album’s birth, but also “maybe the celebration of the rebirth of a community.”

Kristi Albertson, editor of This Week in the Flathead, may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.