Stream Flying Lotus’ “Until the Quiet Comes“

Ever musically nimble and quick to admit his great nephew ties to Alice Coltrane, as are writer-types looking for the easy back-story, Flying Lotus and his new album Until The Quiet Comes strike me as much more jazz-conscious. The floating keys on opener “All In” instantly reminded me of the lackadaisical ivory from “Pharaoh’s Dance”, the opener of Miles Davis’ classic Bitches Brew album. That’s simply one reference point, but Quiet Comes finds Ellison pulling from the jazz strain to create an album that altogether flows very well. Transitions between songs carry smooth, gliding, often-jazz related go-betweens (see: the transition at the end of club-ready “Putty Boy Strut” into “See Thru To U”)

Concerning flow, it’s an important theme of the album. “Getting There”, the album’s second track, also features the aforementioned keys, but flows quickly into the trademark spacey, house-infused bass beats of FlyLo. It’s the album’s first real drop , but an easy transition. Niki Randa’s vocals are very well matched. This theme continues into “Until the Colours Come”, an incredibly dreamy track—also a prominent album theme I’ll get to shortly—that waltzes further into the nighttime jazz scene FlyLo paints through the album’s first few tracks. Deepening the continuity, “Heave(n)” carries these themes and starts presenting an album that feels less like a collection of tracks and more, well, like an album. It’s worth noting these first few tracks’ relatively short length (many under the 2:30 mark), which stitches them together well.

The major theme here seems to be this aqueous, underwater, floating vibe that FlyLo draws from the well of his mind. When we reach “Tiny Tortures”, this subtle flow entertained through the album so far is well-established. Rather than the more up-front, masculine energy of Cosmogramma or other earlier albums (see: 1983’s “Sao Paulo” or Cosmogramma’s “Do The Astral Plane”) you feel this much more enigmatic, recessed, feminine vibe to the record. While “All The Secrets” features the style of glitchy electronic one might have come to expect from FlyLo, Quiet Comes is less an upfront electronic record as a collection of emotions and themes entertained here, something I imagine will keep it high on the replay value. Again, if Cosmogramma were the masculine side, Quiet Comes features the feminine equivalent—never quite developing into what you might expect while constantly remaining in this amorphous, shape-shifting, agile mystique. Quiet Comes feels its way through as opposed to thinking its way through. And after all, this is coming from a guy who’s released three “Lover’s Melt” mixes.

Now on the vocal note, I don’t believe guesting vocals on previous FlyLo tracks were ever forced or out of place—such as Thom Yorke on Cosmogramma’s “And the World Laughs With You”. But they seem to fit better overall on Quiet Comes. Yorke’s vocals on “Electric Candyman” are extremely well placed in the mix, carrying the necessary top-of-the-mix spot while still remaining ethereal and appropriately distant. Erykah Badu’s spot on “See Thru to U” also settle in very well. They create a vocal-filled track to compensate for what might seem as a lack of human touch otherwise. Randa’s repeat appearance on “Hunger” only add to this vocal theme established earlier on the record. And they also complement said subtle, feminine element Quiet Comes thrives on. Even male Thundercat’s vocals on “DMT Song” emit feminine traits and are paired with a female vocalist’s harmonies.

Some might be disappointed in the new record’s lack of perceived hits or upfront, accessible tracks. As FlyLo has incorporated Frank Ocean’s “Thinking Of You” and “Welcome to Jam Rock” in live sets, obviously very upfront tracks, listener’s might expect that on the album. And while Quiet Comes backs up a bit overall, “See Thru to U” and “Putty Boy Strut” definitely do well to balance with some “singles” material. I’m just waiting for the latter be sampled for some hip-hop track, perhaps we’ll see FlyLo collaborator Earl Sweatshirt hop in on a remix. “Sultan’s Request” also balances out the yang energy of the album with some direct yin.

Finally, let’s touch on the “dream” theme of Quiet Comes. While fellow 2012 album-releasers Beach House are oft-tagged with the “dream” label, FlyLo himself called them out on their music making. And if Bloom felt like a dream album, Quiet Comes takes that to the next level. Ellison has frequently made mention of how central nocturnal dreams are to his life and music, ditto with DMT. With track-titles like “Dream to Me”, “DMT Song”, “Phantasm”, “The Nightcaller” and “Heave(n)”, FlyLo is certainly candid about these themes. But he really pulls it off. Just read Thundercat’s lyrics to “DMT Song”. Find me a better 2012 record to soundtrack your dreams and get back to me.

Overall, Until the Quiet Comes may not instantly appeal to those who got on board with Flying Lotus at 2010’s Cosmogramma. One might expect FlyLo to enter more accessible audio terrain with increased exposure and new-found fans from the festival circuits he’s been hitting up. But Ellison sticks to his guns and paints a themematically deep, albeit not necessarily insta-catchy, electronic pop candy, album that should leave listener’s with plenty of thick, beautiful tunes which we can unravel in the coming months.