Speaking to Clash for a forthcoming feature, Los Angeles-based producer Flying Lotus, aka Steven Ellison, has revealed that his new album ‘You’re Dead!’ was, at one stage, shaping up to be a double-LP with Thundercat in a more prominent role. As it is, it’s a relatively curt 38 minutes – albeit a typically colourful experience.
“In fact, this album was originally meant to be mine and Thundercat’s record,” Ellison told us. “I mean, he’s on everything, but it was meant to be a double album. I’m sure he’s okay with it now, but it hurt him a little at the time, I guess.
“We were getting towards finishing when he suggested, ‘Would it be crazy to do two discs?’ I sat back for a minute, but, I realised that my stuff was so close to being done, and his stuff wasn’t. His album, his next one, he’s put a lot of effort into it.”
A new, third Thundercat album – the follow-up to 2013’s excellent ‘Apocalypse’ (review) – is therefore confirmed as in the works. Ellison continued: “He’s been pretty diligent, working on it himself. I think he’s coming into his own as a producer. And yeah, he’s learned a lot from me. He’s the only person who’s been standing behind me, looking over my shoulder, when I’ve been working on Ableton! And now he’s got it, and I’m like: ‘Oh, did you do that thing that I do, to your bass? Oh, you do that too?’”
‘You’re Dead!’ is released through Warp on October 6th. Keep ‘em peeled – though perhaps not as obviously as our man up there – for our full Flying Lotus feature in the near future.
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