Flying Lotus Announces New EP BIG MAMA on Brainfeeder

Flying Lotus fans have reason to celebrate: Steve Ellison, the visionary electronic producer known as Flying Lotus, has announced BIG MAMA, a brand-new EP set for release on March 6, 2026 via his own Brainfeeder label. This marks Ellison’s long-awaited debut on the imprint he founded nearly two decades ago, a label that has been home to acclaimed artists including Thundercat, Kamasi Washington, and Hiatus Kaiyote.

Preorder/save BIG MAMA EP HERE

Created in the wake of directing and scoring his latest feature film, Ash, BIG MAMA captures Ellison in a moment of unbridled spontaneity and creative freedom. The EP delivers what he describes as “experimental, maximalist, hyperfast, electronic burst of energy,” blending diverse sounds, rhythms, and effects into a continuous, stream-of-consciousness composition.

“I wanted it to feel like being shot out of a cannon, just explosive, unpredictable energy [...] like a machine that had just lost its mind.”

Over two months, Ellison approached production in an unconventional way, rather than building individual tracks, he treated the EP as a living sketchbook. Using software synths, second-hand drum machines, and a host of sound design experiments, he crafted the project piece by piece, completing only 10–15 seconds of music a day before stitching the fragments into the final thirteen-minute journey. The result is an unpredictable, human-centered approach to electronic music, where no loop is repeated and every bar feels fresh.

The EP’s artwork, created by Christopher Ian Macfarlane, reflects Ellison’s love of the mischievous cartoon aesthetic of his youth, from Ren & Stimpy to SNICK, adding a playful visual complement to the EP’s kinetic sound. Ellison describes BIG MAMA as a spiritual successor to his 2010 Pattern+Grid World EP, showcasing the dancier, more exuberant side of his musical universe.

BIG MAMA is also a milestone as Flying Lotus’s first release on Brainfeeder.

“I think it was just time at this point to work with the label that I built and work more closely with the team that's around me more.”

Ellison notes, reflecting on a career that has spanned collaborations with artists like Kendrick Lamar, Erykah Badu, and David Lynch.

Fans can preorder or save the EP ahead of its release on March 6th, and experience Ellison’s distinctive, ever-evolving sound in full.

For more on Flying Lotus and his latest projects, follow him on Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and SoundCloud.