Some strive for excellence in a single genre; however, Steven Ellison, known as Flying Lotus, hardly falls into one category. Since his first album, 1983, he has churned out critically acclaimed album after critically acclaimed album. For his fourth effort, Until the Quiet Comes, he creates a psychedelic soundscape, blending a strong Jazz influence with trip-hop accents.
Until the Quiet Comes opens with “All In,” one of the longest songs of the album at just about three minutes long, an homage to past albums of his while still moving in a new direction, drawing on his past work but trimming some of the overproduction of his past albums. “Getting There” comes in as the second track and brings his first guest, Niki Randa, to the microphone to add trippy vocals on top of a psychedelic groove.
The next two songs, “Until the Colours Come” and “Heave(n)” could be off an updated version of Dummy, Portishead’s seminal album. “Tiny Tortures” comes next, and sounds a lot like vintage Flying Lotus. With the help of Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner, a longtime collaborator of Ellison’s and phenomenal bass guitar player, “Tiny Tortures” finds itself as my favorite track off the album, blending disparate sounds to create a distinct series of tones that could only come together for Flying Lotus.
The middle of the album features the disc’s two singles to date. Starting with “Putty Boy Strut,” Ellison takes a steady clapping rhythm reminiscent of Radiohead’s “15 Step,” along with another strong Thundercat bass line to make the listener feel as if they are stepping into Super Mario’s world. “See Thru to U,” the first single off the album, features Erykah Badu. The song, while co-written by Badu, sounds nothing like anything that would be on one of her albums, but rather seamlessly moves back from video game world into the dark corner of a futuristic jazz club.
The title track, “Until the Quiet Comes,” takes the listener back into video game world as Radiohead-esque production melds with Ellison’s distinct sound. “DMT Song” comes next, which now features the vocals of Thundercat. While still harboring a great bass line, it’s the feathery piano work on this song that gives it an almost interlude feel before entering a darker, wobblier world on “The Nightcaller.”
“Electric Candyman” opens with an “Idioteque”-sounding opening, which is fitting as it is co-written by and features Thom Yorke of Radiohead. The song, more reminiscent of “Give Up the Ghost” or the general aesthetic of The King of Limbs, Yorke meshes with Ellison’s production, and instead of overpowering the track, smoothly slides in, so as to not overpower with his characteristic timbre.
The final four tracks, highlighted by “Hunger” which samples Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead’s “Guitar 12” and additional vocals by Niki Randa create a sort of calm before the storm that sends its static charge out with “me Yesterday//Corded.” This particular track opens with a sparsely played ragtime piano melody, before adding in some blips and other synth sounds. Slowly, Ellison continues to add layers to the song before Thundercat comes back in with a progressively building bass line before the song is even halfway through; the feel shifts entirely as the journey is over, and one gets to their sonic destination. Soon, flying barrages of keyboard lines layer on top of one another as the longest track on the album also feels the most complete, featuring a beginning, middle and a nice segue into the final track, a fittingly titled “Dream to Me.”
While some may knock Ellison for releasing songs with an unfinished feel stemming from the rawness of listening to song after song, each track’s carefully composed and produced layers make the album feel anything but incomplete. Throughout 18 tracks, Flying Lotus once again proves why he is one of the preeminent beat makers of the music scene right now, and why he is no longer in the shadow of J Dilla, but rather, firmly his own musician with a distinct sound only laying a foundation from his predecessor.
I cannot recommend this album enough for anyone even remotely a fan of hip hop, electronic music, jazz or pretty much any music, as this album features strong elements of nearly every genre under the sun.
