"Unpredictable and maximal": Flying Lotus to release experimental new EP and film BIG MAMA

3 weeks ago 16

The seven-track project draws inspiration from 90s-era cartoons and marks the first full release by the LA producer – real name Steve Ellison – on the influential label he founded nearly twenty years ago. Described by Ellison as an "experimental, maximalist, hyperfast, electronic burst of energy", the EP was created as a single continuous composition with no repeating loops.

"I wanted it to feel like being shot out of a cannon, just explosive, unpredictable energy," Ellison explains. "Like a fuckin’ computer gone awry."

The project emerged following a period of isolation in New Zealand, where Ellison was directing and scoring his recent feature film, Ash. Returning to studio production, he adopted a meticulous, fragmentary approach, often completing only 10-15 seconds of music per day before stitching the pieces together. The result is a thirteen-minute stream-of-consciousness work that deliberately avoids a fixed tempo or style. "I think that was a big intention of mine with this record, just to think about it more like sound design and make something that felt unpredictable and maximal," says Ellison. "I want to try to keep bringing in things that are uniquely human to electronic music."

Watch a trailer for the BIG MAMA film below.

The move to release the project on Brainfeeder – home to releases from the likes of Thundercat, Hiatus Kaiyote and Kamasi Washington – after a long-standing relationship with Warp Records, is presented as a natural evolution, says Ellison:. "I think it was just time at this point to work with the label that I built... we've built a nice situation for ourselves, so why not? It's about time, I think!"

The artwork for BIG MAMA was created by illustrator Christopher Ian Macfarlane, with Ellison citing a shared affinity for the cartoon aesthetics of 1990s Nickelodeon and The Simpsons as a key inspiration.