It's hard to conceive of having this many ideas in the first place, let alone being able to fuse them into something as consistently brilliant as 'You're Dead!'.
An exploration of death and the afterlife through the kaleidoscopic lens of Steven Ellison, this is not your brooding, stereotypical assessment of the subject. Instead, it's a whistlestop tour of his musings on the Tibetan Book Of The Dead pressed to wax.
In the hands of Flying Lotus and his accomplices - among them bass wizard Thundercat, jazz great Herbie Hancock, Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar - death really is just the beginning of the journey.
This afterlife is one of seemingly limitless surprise and wonder, where themes and motifs collide amid dizzying bass runs and staccato beats. Its frame of reference changes constantly, lifting tricks from jazz fusion along with hip hop cadences and twists of the most out-there funk.
Its movements are best devoured in a single sitting and with little attention paid to the tracklisting - this is a record that’s all about taking in the scenery. Anyway, you’ve already reached your destination by pressing play and submitting to the idea that you’ve just shuffled off this mortal coil.
There is no idea of finality, rather a sense of discovery and the belief that something surprising might happen at any given moment. Far beyond the obvious technical prowess of its creators, this is an album that confronts the most human of fears with an answer plucked from the very depths of human imagination.
Flying Lotus is clearly a subscriber to the idea of death as the next great adventure. If this is his evidence, then it's a thought to hold close to you until the time comes.
Flying Lotus Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Fri November 07 2014 - LONDON Roundhouse
Fri April 17 2015 - LONDON O2 Academy Brixton
Sat April 18 2015 - MANCHESTER Manchester Albert Hall
Sun April 19 2015 - DUBLIN Vicar Street
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