Flying Lotus Working With Thom Yorke for New Album

At the forefront of the current electronic music craze are DJs and the singers accompanying them. But, electronic music extends beyond the DJing booth and producer’s desk, and performers like Flying Lotus are some of the artists not fitting in with this format. Flying Lotus, born Steve Ellison, admitted he does not fit in with the current crop of top EDM artists, in a recent Rolling Stone interview, and additionally spoke about his upcoming album, scheduled for an October 2 release.

Rolling Stone caught up with Ellison before the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago last week. In speaking about his release, Ellison told the magazine that Thom Yorke is making an appearance. The Radiohead frontman, however, collaborated with Ellison in the past, providing vocals on track “… And The World Laughs With You.” Talking about Yorke, Ellison said: "I definitely respect what he's up to. But the biggest surprise to me in getting to know him is that he's a funny guy. He's the jokey one."

Aside from a collaboration with Yorke, Flying Lotus’ upcoming album will have a different feel than his 2010 work Cosmogramma. Rather than striving for grandiose, Ellison is aiming for grownup. He explained: "I feel like I had this maximalist mentality going into the last one, but with this one now I feel like I don't have a problem holding back on some moments so bigger moments can shine through."

As far as not fitting in with his electronic peers, music formats, he explained, separate him apart. While others can put out singles and mixtapes, Ellison considers himself specifically an album recording artist – one whose works would be watered down through excessive and repetitive releasing.