by Rojas Oliva, managing editor
Flying Lotus, a.k.a Steven Ellison, released his latest album, “You’re Dead!” on Oct. 7. Following 2012’s ethereal “Until the Quiet Comes” Ellison had released the aptly titled “Duality,” which started his rap career under the name Captain Murphy. However, although Captain Murphy makes a few appearances throughout “You’re Dead!,” the new work is unquestionably a return to the bizarre, chaotic world of a Flying Lotus album. Ostensibly, the album is a meditation on death. As Ellison told Pitchfork media: “I wanted to make something that captures death from different angles—from the sad moments, to the confusing moments, to maybe even the blissful and silly ones.”
This capture, given that Ellison’s music is largely instrumental, is left up to the spaces the songs create, and as always Ellison walks the fine line between hypnotic beauty and the sort of headache-inducing, random chaos of Captain Beefheart’s (in)famous “Trout Mask Replica.” “You’re Dead!” is, from a sonic standpoint, a total mess. It ranges from the bombastic rap of “Never Catch Me” — which features Kendrick Lamar coolly keeping pace with a melancholy piano and relentlessly clattering percussion — to “Dead Man’s Tetris” and its drugged-out, sample heavy landscape (and a maybe literally drugged-out Snoop Dog.) Then it’s flying through a few free-jazzy pieces and some gorgeous songs reminiscent of trip-hop acts like Portishead.
Overall, it may be difficult to find any cohesive whole regarding Ellison’s actual philosophy towards death, but his crackling percussion, jittery horns and frenetic bass never feel or sound like anything else and do a fine job of conjuring up the otherworldly.
However, it’s a little hard to parse out what sort of context this music is made for: it sure isn’t trying too hard to formulate some sort of artistic philosophy or ideology, and it’s definitely not for jogging or dancing, as Kendrick Lamar is probably the only human able to keep up with Ellison when he’s running at full steam. But given how its 19 songs fly by in just 38 minutes, it’s just maybe perfect for the moments right before you drift off to sleep when ideas can come and go with your focus.
Ultimately, wrapping your head around Ellison’s newest album is a fine way to spend your time on Earth. If nothing else, its title will joyously remind you of your mortality and the weird joy of life.
