On Saturday, after the unfortunate cancellation of Bloc Festival, a number of London promoters banded together to put on a series of free events for ticketholders. Brainfeeder boss Steven Ellison, aka Flying Lotus, put in even more hours than most, appearing twice – once at XOYO, and later at Hyperdub’s Rhythm Factory showcase – and both times with The Weeknd as a surprise special guest.
But there was another less likely guest at XOYO that night – Venus Williams, who turned up at the club mere hours after winning the doubles final with her sister Serena in the Wimbledon Final, a match which only finished at 11pm. The Stool Pigeon spoke to Ellison the following day about his new album, and took the opportunity to ask him about her surprise appearance.
"I met her that night," he said. "She came with a friend of mine who knows her from LA — they grew up with each other. It was kinda random, but it was actually really awesome ‘cos I don’t really watch sports but I just happened to watch the doubles game that day, and she just came right out! I was surprised too, but I guess she had that momentum… that fucking, uh, adrenalin going."
He was also generally buoyant about the opportunity to play on Saturday night, saying of the Hyperdub Rhythm Factory gig: "it was the hottest place I’ve ever been in my life! It was the sweatiest I’ve ever been."
He also took the opportunity to premiere some new material from his upcoming fourth album, the follow-up to 2010’s cosmic jazz odyssey Cosmogramma. When asked about the album’s direction, he explained that it would be an "amalgamation" of everything he’s done so far, and would include "moments that are more banging" than its predecessor. The album is set for release in October, and give the quality of Ellison’s past work is highly anticipated. More news when we have it.
