Flamagra

Flamagra
Studio album by
Flying Lotus
Released May 24, 2019
Recorded 2015–2019
Genre
Length 66:57
Label Warp
Producer Flying Lotus
Flying Lotus chronology
You're Dead!
(2014) 		Flamagra
(2019) 		Yasuke
(2021)
Singles from Flamagra
  1. "Fire Is Coming"
    Released: April 17, 2019
  2. "Spontaneous / Takashi"
    Released: April 23, 2019
  3. "More"
    Released: May 8, 2019
  4. "Black Balloons Reprise"
    Released: May 21, 2019
Alternative cover
Deluxe Edition cover art.
Deluxe Edition cover art.

Flamagra is the sixth studio album by American record producer Flying Lotus (Steven Ellison), released on May 24, 2019 by Warp Records. It is his first album since 2014's You're Dead!. The lead single, the spoken-word "Fire Is Coming" featuring David Lynch, was released along with its video on April 17, 2019. The album also features contributions from Anderson .Paak, George Clinton, Little Dragon, Tierra Whack, Denzel Curry, Shabazz Palaces, Thundercat, Toro y Moi and Solange. A deluxe version of the album with the instrumentals was released on May 29, 2020.

Background

Ellison said that he had gathered different material from the past five years in the process of making the record, and had a "thematic idea" about making an album with a fire concept during that time. He imagined an "eternal flame sitting on a hill", and upon hearing David Lynch talking at a party he was attending, asked him to record the same words for his album, at which point he said the idea for the album became fixed.

The track "Post Requisite" was featured on the soundtrack of Ellison's 2017 feature film Kuso and was accompanied by a music video. Prior to the album's release, the tracks "Fire Is Coming", "Spontaneous", "Takashi", "More" and "Black Balloons Reprise" were released as singles. The latter is a reprise of the song of the same name from Denzel Curry's 2018 album Ta13oo. The opening track "Heroes" is a new version of the previously released song "Heroes Pt. 5".

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
AnyDecentMusic? 7.8/10
Metacritic 80/100
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic
The A.V. Club B+
The Guardian
The Independent
The Irish Times
Mojo
NME
Pitchfork 7.8/10
Q
Rolling Stone

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, Flamagra received an average score of 80, based on 27 reviews.

Year-end rankings

Publication Accolade Rank Ref.
Afisha Daily (Russia) The Best Foreign Albums of 2019
20

Commercial performance

As of July 2019, the album has moved 10,000 units in United States.

Track listing

Credits adapted from liner notes.

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Heroes"
2:44
2. "Post Requisite"
  • Ellison
  • Bruner
 2:08
3. "Heroes in a Half Shell"
  • Ellison
  • Bruner
  • Brandon Coleman
 1:17
4. "More" (featuring Anderson .Paak)
4:17
5. "Capillaries" Ellison 1:54
6. "Burning Down the House" (featuring George Clinton)
3:03
7. "Spontaneous" (featuring Little Dragon)
2:08
8. "Takashi"
  • Ellison
  • Syunsuke Ono
  • Bruner
  • Coleman
 5:51
9. "Pilgrim Side Eye"
1:30
10. "All Spies" Ellison 1:45
11. "Yellow Belly" (featuring Tierra Whack)
3:11
12. "Black Balloons Reprise" (featuring Denzel Curry)
2:41
13. "Fire Is Coming" (featuring David Lynch)
3:16
14. "Inside Your Home"
  • Ellison
  • Bruner
 1:26
15. "Actually Virtual" (featuring Shabazz Palaces)
1:58
16. "Andromeda"
  • Ellison
  • Bruner
 1:28
17. "Remind U"
  • Ellison
  • Coleman
 2:41
18. "Say Something"
  • Ellison
  • Bruner
  • Atwood-Ferguson
  • Hamm
 1:15
19. "Debbie is Depressed"
  • Ellison
  • Bruner
 2:19
20. "Find Your Own Way Home"
  • Ellison
  • Taylor Graves
 1:40
21. "The Climb" (featuring Thundercat)
  • Ellison
  • Bruner
  • Atwood-Ferguson
  • Coleman
 3:15
22. "Pygmy"
  • Ellison
  • Bruner
 1:24
23. "9 Carrots" (featuring Toro y Moi)
3:01
24. "FF4"
  • Ellison
  • Atwood-Ferguson
 1:11
25. "Land of Honey" (featuring Solange)
3:27
26. "Thank U Malcolm"
  • Ellison
  • Coleman
  • Bruner
 1:32
27. "Hot Oct."
  • Ellison
  • Bruner
 4:35
Total length: 66:57
Japanese edition bonus track
No. Title Writer(s) Length
28. "Quarantine"
  • Ellison
  • Bruner
 3:48
Total length: 70:45

Sample credits

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

Musicians

  • Miguel Atwood-Ferguson – strings (1, 3, 12, 19, 20, 26)
  • Ashley Norelle – backing vocals (4)
  • Taylor Graves – keyboards (4)
  • Ronald Bruner – drums (8, 26), backing vocals (20)
  • Deantoni Parks – drums (19, 21)
  • Niki Randa – backing vocals (20)
  • Thundercat –  bass (1, 2, 4, 6-9, 12-16, 19, 21, 22, 26, 27), Backing vocals (20, 21)

Technical

Artwork

  • Winston Hacking – artwork
  • Echelon Color – retouching
  • Stephen Serrato – layout
  • Guccimaze – typeface design
  • Joph (Jeong-woo Jo) – portrait

Charts

Chart (2019) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) 55
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) 47
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 16
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) 122
Canadian Albums (Billboard) 74
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 60
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) 20
Japan Hot Albums (Billboard Japan) 36
Japanese Albums (Oricon) 28
Lithuanian Albums (AGATA) 96
Scottish Albums (OCC) 20
UK Albums (OCC) 25
US Billboard 200 45
US Independent Albums (Billboard) 5
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard) 1
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard) 1