Flying Lotus previews first new album in five years with David Lynch-assisted 'Fire Is Coming'

by: Alexander Krinsky Apr 18, 2019

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Flying Lotus has unequivocally been one of the most diverse and prolific producers of the past decade. His range has known no bounds. From the hip-hop interludes between late-night Adult Swim shows, to his collaborations with Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Thundercat, and Thom Yorke, to heralding his own label and artistic collective, the Los Angeles-based visionary has consistently pushed the limits. Now, FlyLo is teasing his first new album in five years with the release of his unsettling new single “Fire Is Coming” featuring iconic filmmaker David Lynch. On his latest, it’s clear the artist lesser known as Steve Ellison is pushing once again, and this time, it’s well into the avant-garde.

The video, directed by the You’re Dead! producer and David Firth, lies the same realm of something one might find playing on an old TV in the Museum of Modern Art. In the new visual, David Lynch’s face twists and his eyes burn with fire as he tells a story from the mouth of a wolf in a wheelchair. His story is told to children adorned in fur. The score to this short film is in line with the visuals, it scratches and itches, it evokes an inalienable fear. The fear is that of the end or the impending notion of an apocalypse, which is a theme Flylo hasn’t been shy about in his previous works.

“I’d been working on stuff for the past five years, but it was always all over the place. I’d always had this thematic idea in mind—a lingering concept about fire, an eternal flame sitting on a hill. Some people love it, some people hate it. Some people would go on dates there and some people would burn love letters in the fire,” says Ellison in a press statement.

Mortality and humanity have been themes in his work for many years and despite their subtle nature have drawn realists, dreamers, and optimistic nihilists towards his music and message in droves.

Though this preview could be described as “disturbing”FlyLo’s upcoming Flamagra LP does manage to boast an impressive list of features—Anderson .Paak, Solange, George Clinton, Little Dragon, Thundercat, Toro y Moi and more will grace the album. Flamagra is expected to release May 24 on Warp Records.

Flamagra tracklist: 

1. Heroes 
2. Post Requisite
3. Heroes In A Half Shell 
4. More feat. Anderson .Paak
5. Capillaries 
6. Burning Down The House feat. George Clinton
7. Spontaneous feat. Little Dragon
8. Takashi
9. Pilgrim Side Eye 
10. All Spies 
11. Yellow Belly feat. Tierra Whack
12. Black Balloons Reprise feat. Denzel Curry
13. Fire Is Coming feat. David Lynch
14. Inside Your Home 
15. Actually Virtual feat. Shabazz Palaces
16. Andromeda 
17. Remind U 
18. Say Something 
19. Debbie Is Depressed 
20. Find Your Own Way Home 
21. The Climb feat. Thundercat
22. Pygmy 
23. 9 Carrots feat. Toro y Moi
24. FF4 
25. Land Of Honey feat. Solange
26. Thank U Malcolm 
27. Hot Oct.