SXSW 2025: Tim de Laughter, The Polyphonic Spree and Resolution

Tim DeLaughter, the visionary behind the Texas symphonic rock band Polyphonic Spree, has always been driven by a desire to fully connect with audiences. His latest project, "Resolution: a Cinephonic Rhapsody for the Soul," takes that ambition to the next level with an immersive film experience that reimagines the way people listen to albums. In a world plagued by distraction, Resolution offers an emotionally resonant journey.

The show took place in a purpose-built dome theater, a first for SXSW. Attendees enjoyed a lie-back experience combining an uninterrupted play of Polyphonic Spree’s 2023 release Salvage Enterprise with custom visual treatments created for each song by a roster of Oscar and Emmy-winning artists.

The experience has been pulling in the crowds at planetariums like the Omni Theater in Fort Worth, Texas, which boasts a full hemisphere 8K LED screen, with plans to extend the shows across the US and Europe.

Resolution is the work of Cinephonic Studio, a new venture led by DeLaughter and filmmaker Scott Berman, who are long-term collaborators on multimedia stage shows since the 1990s.

VML Intelligence spoke with DeLaughter about the inspiration behind "Resolution," its surprising impact on visitors, and the future of immersive art.

What inspired you to create dedicated music listening experiences?

Resolution was born from wanting people to hear our latest album, Salvage Enterprise by The Polyphonic Spree. It was a necessity, because people don't listen to albums anymore.

I got really in my head, and I was unable to even put my record out because I was so freaked out that people would not hear it as a as a full body of work. Once it gets into your phone, music becomes this surfing jukebox of songs. No one really takes the time to listen to albums like they used to.

I took it upon myself to do listening experiences. I got a sprinter van and put a sound system in. There was quadraphonic, 360-degree sound in a circle on tripods, and blankets on the ground. I went from Texas to the West Coast, up and down with a pop-up free listening experience.

People would turn their phones off, lay down on the ground, look at the stars and listen to the album from start to finish.

So that was it for me. I was like, “Yes, I have a captive audience. They can hear the record.”

How did you come up with the idea for Resolution?

My friend Scott Berman, who is my partner with Cinephonic and Resolution, he's been with me from the beginning. We had often wanted to do a planetarium experience, and this was a perfect record. Scott wrote a treatment for it, and we came up with the idea of doing Resolution. We hired animators from all over the world to do nine songs, 43 minutes of music, and we've created an immersive film experience to reimagine an album experience where people can have an excuse to check out and take in an album.

Resolution: A Cinephonic Rhapsody for the Soul

What is the need that this kind of experience answers?

It’s twofold. People need an excuse to say it's okay to shut down for a minute, turn the phone off and engage with something and allow themself space and time to relax and take in a body of work. Everything is so fragmented, and music has become so disposable that we don't really take the time to take it in.

Secondly, I think that you're affected by what I was affected by. What this record is about, is overcoming and hopefulness and convincing myself I can make it through. Inadvertently it helps other people. That comes through in this film and on this record, and people leave, hopefully with being reinvigorated and finding that there's hope.

People need an excuse to say it's okay to shut down for a minute, turn the phone off and engage with something and allow themself space and time to relax and take in a body of work. Everything is so fragmented, and music has become so disposable that we don't really take the time to take it in.

Tim DeLaughter

The Polyphonic Spree and Resolution

What has the reaction been like at SXSW?

Every experience is different, but here people are crying, people are really moved. People are identifying with certain things that they're seeing and relating to lyrically what's being said. And I think that it's kind of overwhelming for some folks, but at the same time, there's a lot of smiles, because there's hopefulness. I think we need that more than ever right now, because we're so distracted and we barely give ourselves time to take care of ourselves.

The visuals and the experience itself feel very collective. Was that intentional?

I wasn't thinking about that - it was all about getting people to listen to this album. Just like the songs are for me, and ultimately, I find out they're for other people too. Of course, it turned out to be communal. Of course, you've got people there having shared experience together. People are finding that they get some relief from the experience – there’s a healing aspect to it. There is a possibility that it may even become FDA-approved in the future.

So, what’s next for Resolution?

The name of the company is Cinephonic, and our next project is Art of Sound, where we'll do educational programs that are going to be thoughtful with music - teaching kids and everyone else about sound, how it moves, how it affects you, all these different things. But the bigger projects will be album experiences for other bands.