There’s nothing subtle about titling an album You’re Dead! It’s a project about death, which is a huge undertaking, even for a guy as sure-handed as Flying Lotus. But rather than losing himself in the morbidity of it all, Flying Lotus avoids that trap by flipping the script completely. Death, in his eyes, is not an end but a new beginning – not an entirely new idea, but seldom executed in this precise a manner.
The album is largely instrumental, and is successful in that it holds tightly to a well developed narrative – the type of album that’s best experienced as a whole, from beginning to end. For the first four songs Flying Lotus lays a sledge to traditional form, bending, breaking and rearranging notes into wild, yet melodically familiar landscapes. Coltrane, Davis, Mingus, all there in spirit supervising the whole operation, which in a sense makes this more of an experimental soul jazz effort than a hip-hop one.
We don’t get a vocal presence until “Never Catch Me” featuring Kendrick Lamar, who is as good a voice as any when it comes to breaking molds. The song moves at breakneck speed and is poignant in that it embraces the idea that life is nothing more than a passing moment.
The opening few lines spell it out for you in plain English, and if that weren’t enough the accompanying video, which is arguably one of the best of the year, projects the same idea but through a totally different lens: [LISTEN]
“Dead Man’s Tetris” featuring Snoop Dogg, follows the song, and is meant to break the morbid overtones. Again, Flying Lotus is trying to reconcile life and death, so he needs to find a way to lighten the mood. He does that by conjuring up the spirit of the always bugged out Captain Murphy: [LISTEN]
For most of the album the action moves fairly quick, capturing moments of spontaneity like an interstellar Polaroid, an effect that’s meant to simulate the experience of having one’s life flash before their eyes. One key component in this is Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner whose contribution adds a priceless amount of depth to the album. The two have developed a strong bond, and the synergy shines bright, especially on a track like “Descent Into Madness” where the vocal arrangements are in harmony with the message being delivered:
You’re Dead! is as ambitious a project as any. If there were one criticism it would be that its biggest strength is also its biggest weakness, in that it’s too clean, a little too polished for revelation. But on that note this isn’t Donuts, where death is a very real and present thing. This is merely one man’s take on the unknown. Not a lyrical triumph by any stretch, but one that is noteworthy in that it shatters molds while simultaneously embracing new ones.
Flying Lotus - You're Dead! Album
