Review Summary: "I can take you to a world where you can spread your wings and fly away."
In 2010 Flying Lotus dazzled us with his genre bending electronic hip-hop/jazz album “Cosmogramma”. Critics and fans alike were taken back by all the fantastic jazzy and spastic sounds Fly Lo and friends were able to create on this album. Many wondered if Flying Lotus would be able to top this masterpiece; would he create an even wilder album than “Cosmogramma”, would he hold back his sound and keep it safe or would he reinvent his sound all together? In Fall 2012 everyone’s questions were answered when Flying Lotus released his 4th studio album, “Until the Quiet Comes”.
The first thing you will notice while listening to “Until the Quiet Comes” is that this album is nowhere near as crazy and out in left field as the free jazz oriented album “Cosmogramma” is. The songs on “Until the Quiet Comes” are much more focused and structured than on the previous album. The songs are more focused and structured in the sense that the song doesn't change rhythm every 30 seconds and keep a solid beat throughout. In place of the many rambunctious and urgent styles of songs on previous releases Flying Lotus opts for a more relaxed and natural sound on “Until the Quiet Comes”. The songs have a more simplistic and sophisticated nature to them. The songs on “Until the Quiet Comes” also have a bit more diversity and contrast between tracks than on previous releases. The contrast between songs really adds to the album as a whole and adds to the replay value of the album. Tracks like “Only If You Wanna”, “Tiny Tortures”, and “Phantasm” have a very dream-like feel to them while tracks like “Sultan’s Request” and “Putty Boy Strut” are very straightforward and rather dance-y and hard-hitting which is something new for Flying Lotus and his sound.
Flying Lotus also makes a few collaborations on “Until the Quiet Comes”. He collabs with the likes of Niki Randa, Thundercat, Laura Darlington, Thom Yorke, and Erykah Badu to name them all. Flying Lotus collaboration tracks are always great and the collaborations on “Until the Quiet Comes” are no exception. “Electric Candyman”, which features Thom Yorke, is one of, if not the, darkest track on the album. The track features a very minimal beat with some synth that is very reminiscent of the synth on Radiohead’s album Kid A, with Thom Yorke repeating “Look into the mirror and say my name”. The track “See Thru to U” features the neo-soul singer Erykah Badu and was the first single for the album. The track is very similar to the track “Zodiac Sh!t” from “Cosmogramma” but with Erykah Badu’s soothing vocals over top of it. The previously mentioned collab tracks and the many others on “Until the Quiet Comes” are a strong point because instead of the guests overpowering the songs they add the little things that Flying Lotus couldn't do by himself.
“Until the Quiet Comes” may disappoint the die-hard fans of the wild jazzy side of Flying Lotus but if you are interested more than this one aspect of Flying Lotus' music then you may find something that you really like on this album. "Until the Quiet Comes” is a milestone for Flying Lotus because he has succeeded in not only making his sound more digestible and focused he has also managed to keep the sound true to himself.
