#004

Oh yeah.

Ever since hearing “Zodiac Shit” for the first time… man, probably a decade ago? I’ve always felt a little magnetized to FlyLo. “Cosmogramma” and “You’re Dead!” feel like blueprints to what great, slick, and accessible electronic music should be to me. I would be genuinely surprised to know if the man could screw anything up.

Surprise surprise! Flamagra is another atom-fuckin’-bomb, and not to sound like someone who very likely has some sort of attention disorder, (lol,) but it’s also the most patience I’ve had for an hour-long album in some time. If I had to guess, it’s probably due to the fact that it feels incredibly breezy with an average track length somewhere around 2½(ish) minutes. It’s not afraid to linger, but it really does move at a rapid clip. Every feature feels almost immediately identifiable even without looking at the track list, and it feels like... well, a truly collaborative effort in my eyes. There are tracks here and there I’m less hot on, (Yellow Belly is maybe just a little too goofy for me, though I’m glad everyone is having fun,) yet the hits really land with me. “Black Balloons Reprise” is some unbelievably good work all around, and the descending run that Denzel Curry goes on around 45 seconds in is going to be stuck in my head for fucking days. (Also I think "BBR" > "Fire Is Coming" > "Inside Your Home" is just an immaculate 3-track run!)

I think the only thing I can nitpick about this album is a preconception I had to tackle— I wish it had a little more “inferno.” The album’s thematic thrust is fire, the album artwork shows fires above and below which threaten to burn whoever’s around, the tracklist features “Burning Down The House,” “Fire Is Coming,” a lot of allusions to fire, etc. And while a lot of this album nails that concept FlyLo mentioned of an “eternal flame sitting on a hill,” I really wanted to hear what it sounds like when that fire goes completely out of control. You can hear moments where it threatens to spill out, lighting anything it touches, but by the back third, it feels as if the flame’s been tamed. It absolutely doesn’t take away from my enjoyment of “Flamagra,” but I have this immense curiosity now.

Maybe I’m being too one-track-minded here. Ellison says in the same interview that I linked above that this album is a "refuge for pain," a salve for healing and moving forward. The fire doesn't need to rage out of control here, I can turn to other sources for that. With all said, I really do love this one.

Also... I'm probably never getting over "Fire Is Coming." I can't put into words how much I love that track.

favorite tracks (man, do i really have to pick?): more, burning down the house, black balloons reprise, fire is coming, inside your home, the climb, hot oct.