The uniquely talented producer takes listeners on an exhilarating journey that unites both calm and chaos.
A delicately balanced mix of every genre and theme that has defined his work to date, all bound together in the flames.
Highlights are everywhere if you give them time to reveal themselves.
Across 27 songs — many of them lasting between a minute and two — Flamagra plays like a staggered daydream, where you occasionally return to consciousness, only to slip back into slumber soon after.
It’s sort of predictably unpredictable, twisting and turning in a way that’s unmistakably FlyLo. And that is the greatest compliment of all.
His latest LP, Flamagra, integrates everything in his oeuvre to date, showing how Ellison can swerve between lanes while still remaining in a vehicle easily identifiable as his.
Flamagra may not channel the raw angst of his previous works, but it still enacts that crucial moment of recognition.
If it all sounds vaporous at times, or even predictable to listeners long familiar with Flying Lotus’ sound, then at least it represents his growth into a full-fledged record producer, someone capable of straight-up great songwriting as well as engagingly electronic funk.
The brilliant auras of sound and feeling swirl together to create moments of joy and tranquility; Flamagra is an experience that invites listeners to come together and listen to what that fire has to say.
‘Flamagra’ reminds us just how good Flying Lotus sounds when soundtracking transcendence.
Flamagra – a playful yet melancholic, skittish yet meditative 67 minutes of cosmic genius – is one of Flying Lotus’s most accessible releases.
Sure, it might lack the more established themes of Until the Quiet Comes and You’re Dead! but while Flamagra doesn’t feel as defined, it feels more unencumbered, more uninhibited: Ellison unleashed.
FlyLo draws on many of the cosmic jazz greats here ... His arrangements stay wondrous as usual, carrying a gravitas that hasn’t been present in his recent creative (see: non-musical) work.
On Steven Ellison’s sixth album, his sweeping jazz-funk feels limitless. It sounds more like a sketchbook with FlyLo crafting each minute with great care and technical dexterity.
At a whopping 66:57, it's easy to get lost in Ellison's latest offering, and not in the dreamy, psychedelic manner of his previous, trimmer work.
Its moments of brilliance burn bright, but all the smoke obscures the quality.
Flamagra, like the man who made it, is an island of its own: often beautiful, sometimes baffling, totally inimitable.
Flamagra is a plotless behemoth that appeals less to the lizard brain than the part of the mind that likes getting lost in a maze of clues that may or may not add to something.
With many high-profile features peppering Flying Lotus' wacked out futuristic jazz-funk on his newest release, it can sometimes feel as though Flamagra stumbles just when it's building up steam.
Somewhere in here is a 40-minute program with greater impact. Getting to know the whole thing well enough to make a custom-contracted edition is worth the time.
He remains an inventive and interesting producer ... and there are significant patches of brilliance on Flamagra that make it a worthwhile listen.
Always known for Technicolor hip-hop odysseys, Flying Lotus has now gone fully cinematic.
Flying Lotus' fifth album Flamagra contains plenty of strong material but ultimately lacks a unifying coherence.
Flamagra mostly sounds like a hodgepodge of ideas FlyLo has already explored on previous efforts, and what surprises it does bring are hit-and-miss.
Flamagra is too considered, burdened, and what were once cosmic, mind-expanding polyrhythms come over as inconsequential and annoying.
Worth the 4.5 year wait. Flying Lotus proves he can adapt as musical trends do, and puts out another auditory wonderland.
Fire isn't just coming. It's already here. And it's amazing.
What a wonderland of just some of the most pleasing aesthetics and soundscapes to come out of 2019 so far. I was gonna give this something like a 6 or a 7/10 at the beginning of my second listen, but after listening it just clicked. This album just sounds like a massive collection of genres being mashed together and creating an entirely new universe. The features are excellent, the melodies are amazing, and the beats... well they hit ... read more
Flamagra may be Flying Lotus' most ambitious album yet, but it's also his most frustrating.
There's a lot to love about Flamagra. There's no question that this is a much labored over record, and that Ellison put a great deal of passion into it. However, it seems like there are just so many different choices or details that keep me from enjoying Flamagra to the extent that I had hoped. A good example would be Burning Down the House. The groovy production and George Clinton's smooth feature ... read more
With this being my introduction to Flying Lotus, I loved this album especially some of the quirky short songs in between the featured tracks, however, I felt there was some filler songs around the middle area which felt forgettable, this being my only critique, as the features do extremely well in this project to accompany the backing track well. Overall, this album is great however too bloated for me in my opinion but still good for a long drive playlist
flamagra is pretty good and has loads of high points (more, burning down the house, takashi, black balloons reprise, the climb) but has a couple of more boring moments + doesnt really stand out without the features, two things that, unfortunately, make it my least favorite flylo album 💔
1 | Heroes 2:44 | 81 |
2 | Post Requisite 2:08 | 88 |
3 | Heroes in a Half Shell 1:17 | 78 |
4 | More 4:17 feat. Anderson .Paak | 86 |
5 | Capillaries 1:54 | 76 |
6 | Burning Down the House 3:03 feat. George Clinton | 80 |
7 | Spontaneous 2:08 feat. Little Dragon | 84 |
8 | Takashi 5:51 | 84 |
9 | Pilgrim Side Eye 1:30 | 72 |
10 | All Spies 1:45 | 74 |
11 | Yellow Belly 3:11 feat. Tierra Whack | 81 |
12 | Black Balloons Reprise 2:41 feat. Denzel Curry | 93 |
13 | Fire Is Coming 3:16 feat. David Lynch | 82 |
14 | Inside Your Home 1:26 | 78 |
15 | Actually Virtual 1:58 feat. Shabazz Palaces | 81 |
16 | Andromeda 1:28 | 84 |
17 | Remind U 2:41 | 84 |
18 | Say Something 1:15 | 77 |
19 | Debbie Is Depressed 2:19 | 81 |
20 | Find Your Own Way Home 1:40 | 75 |
21 | The Climb 3:15 feat. Thundercat | 86 |
22 | Pygmy 1:24 | 74 |
23 | 9 Carrots 3:01 feat. Toro y Moi | 76 |
24 | Ff4 1:11 | 76 |
25 | Land of Honey 3:27 feat. Solange | 89 |
26 | Thank U Malcolm 1:32 | 85 |
27 | Hot Oct. 4:35 | 84 |
#3 | / | Bleep |
#8 | / | Okayplayer |
#9 | / | Passion of the Weiss |
#11 | / | Magnetic |
#21 | / | Mixmag |
#22 | / | DJ Mag |
#23 | / | Piccadilly Records |
#24 | / | Consequence of Sound |
#36 | / | Complex |
#38 | / | MOJO |