On his past releases, Flying Lotus’ main trick was sensory overload. He'd pile loops on top of each other, dueling drumbeats would collide, and the first five times you listened to any song, you'd usually have to double check to see if something else was playing the background. His music can be difficult, but the rewards are great. Every listen unpeels a layer, until you've boiled the song down to its basic elements. Until The Quiet Comes, his latest, is much less busy. Erykah Badu and Thom Yorke (among others) drift through his instrumentals, adding focus and a new clarity to his music, but then they leave and we're left with just Flying Lotus, creating an updated version of late-evening free jazz that is often contemplative and gorgeous, and sounds like it's coated in layers of dust and weed resin. Until The Quiet Comes feels like Flying Lotus' least futuristic album, but the clarity is admirable. He hasn't lost his experimental streak, he's just honed it to the point that he's creating the borders, not just pushing against them. Until The Quiet Comes is out October 2nd on Warp; stream it below via NPR.
Stream: Flying Lotus, Until The Quite Comes
