LA producer, filmmaker, DJ, and head of the Brainfeeder label Steven Ellison, better known as Flying Lotus, has been making music for roughly 20 years.
Rising to prominence in the mid-2000s Los Angeles beat scene, he has since pioneered a sound so uniquely his own that his music often feels as if he is plucking floating, fluttering soundwaves from the sky and capturing them for our listening pleasure.
His latest EP, BIG MAMA, completed in just two months, showcases Ellison at his most spontaneous and unbridled, packing dense, disparate sounds, rhythms, and effects into a tightly wound burst of creativity.
Ellison experiments with software synths to delve into FM, wavetable, and granular synthesis, alongside second-hand drum machines, spending the first month building a “sketchbook” of individual sounds to use in the next phase of the process.
From there, Ellison focused on building the meticulous details of the BIG MAMA world, completing just 10–15 seconds of music each day before weaving the fragments together into a thirteen-plus-minute, stream-of-consciousness outpouring, unconstrained by tempo or style.
On the making of the project, he explains, “I wanted it to feel like being shot out of a cannon, just explosive, unpredictable energy. Like a fuckin’ computer gone awry. Like a machine that had just lost its mind.”
Explosive, bold, and unafraid to take up space, this EP delivers exactly as promised. Its style blends electronic elements, jazz licks, industrial textures, and ambient, airy passages with hard-hitting, gritty synth, creating a sonic landscape that is both dense and dynamic.
The title track and opener charges in like a moving orb of sound, collecting trinkets and new textures along the way. At just 36 seconds, it works as an intro while standing strong on its own.
“ANTELOPE ONIGIRI” is playful and adventurous, as if fluttering through different worlds. Each new melody is introduced with slightly drawn-out chords that briefly anchor the track before it moves on—after all, BIG MAMA has a mind of its own and refuses to be tied down.
"Horse Nuke" begins with an ominous tone before gradually introducing what feels like buffering sounds, eventually giving way to a fluttery, panicked melody. Vocal ad-libs add texture and sweep across the stereo field, emphasizing the track’s depth. It pushes forward like the final round of a video game, where strategy is key, and you charge headfirst to face the villain ahead.
The EP closes with “Pink Dream,” a perfectly avant-garde track that leans more heavily into jazz-infused rhythms. Its pulsing, exploratory energy highlights Lotus’s love for improvisation and his willingness to push boundaries, leaving the listener both exhilarated and unsettled in the best way.
As a whole, the EP feels like a swirling ball of sound and controlled chaos, inviting listeners to experiment and color outside the lines. It’s made for the adventurous listener who doesn’t mind being caught off guard and is open to letting sound wash over them. Therapeutic, perhaps, but it also blends genres in a glitchy, robust way that demands attention and admiration.
Notably, BIG MAMA marks Flying Lotus’ first release on his own imprint, Brainfeeder Records.
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