Flying Lotus makes directorial debut on Bilal’s “Levels”

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The Sounds of VTech / Bilal Levels

LA beat wizard Flying Lotus has added another string to his creative bow, directing the music video for Bilal’s new single “Levels” [via The LA Times blog].

As well as a cameo appearance from Eryka Badhu, Fly Lo incorporates a kaleidoscopic swirl of colours, animation and imagery – oh, and a floating head. It fits Bilal’s music snugly, which is very much on a psychedelic pop tip.

There are notable parallels with the clip for Flying Lotus’ own “MmmHmm”, directed by Special Problems, which featured on last year’s acclaimed long player Cosmogramma.

Well known bass player Thundercat appears in both clips, with the LA Times quoting Fly Lo – real name Steven Ellison – as saying: “Since Thundercat was part of (“MmmHmm”), I thought it would be fun to continue the visual style and feel of this space opera.”

“In the end, you have this crazy video made of so much mixed media, geek dreams and lots of love.”

In an interview with Juno Plus last year, Ellison alluded to the project, although at that stage details were scarce. He also revealed he was working on a documentary about his late aunt Alice Coltrane.