Flying Lotus’ production on his new single “Masquatch” is a seemingly slowed down iteration of his production on his most recent album “You’re Dead!” The stomp, the rattle, and the wonderfully organic feel are all present. My mind wanders to a desert scene with wind sifting through the limbs of a 1,000-year-old dead tree.

At a slower tempo, however, FlyLo’s production loses its frantic mania and instead co-opts a deeply menacing face. The synths that hang over the production and occasional jazz noodling take on their full spiritual effect, now being used only sparsely. As far as DOOM’s performance on the song, it is a little too low in the mix to be heard clearly. Not only is it overshadowed talent-wise by FlyLo, it is sonically overpowered. His delivery’s weird placement in the mix at times enhances the song, however. With his audibility surging and receding in a similar manner to the beat, he magnifies the song’s disorienting qualities. This slower direction is one that I feel that FlyLo should flesh out more in the future, whether in singles or on a full length, and if collaborating with DOOM will lead him to do that then I’m looking forward to more collaborations between them.

– Garrett Cottingham