After creeping onto the LA music scene in 2006 with 1983, his first full-length album, the many and varied musical talents of one Steven Ellison (aka Flying Lotus) were soon spotted. Signed to the legendary Warp Records label – home to the likes of Aphex Twin, Jamie Lidell, Autechre and Hudson Mohawke – in 2007, Ellison set about creating his sophomore album. A confluence of factors, including the rise of MySpace (check out just how many friends FlyLo has on there), widespread critical acclaim and the fresh, eclectic and utterly peculiar nature of Ellison’s approach to making music, helped make Los Angeles one of the most talked-about albums of 2008, and made FlyLo a cult favourite the world over.

Two years later, Flying Lotus has returned with his third album, Cosmogramma. As the man himself states in the accompanying press release, “it would have been so easy to just make a dubstep album”. It’s a reference to the elevated position that FlyLo now occupies within the IDM/experimental hip-hop world, and the fact that his avid followers would more than likely lap up whatever the man chose to serve them.

But full credit to Ellison for taking Frost’s road less travelled. Cosmogramma is by no means easy listening; it’s intense and challenging for the listener, but simultaneously intriguing and, after a few listens, thoroughly rewarding. To my mind, the album reflects the workings of a more mature and introspective Ellison. It’s a more complete, less fragmented body of work than Los Angeles, with key themes and motifs recurring as one track blends (or sometimes leaps) into the next.

In typically inexplicable FlyLo style, the closest thing to an album introduction (_Intro / A Cosmic Drama_) isn’t unearthed until track four, although it’s well worth the wait. Lush, heavenly strings, arranged on the album by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, are paired with the powerful harp provided by Rebekah Raff and Thundercat’s bass, and mixed with just the faintest suggestion of FlyLo’s electronic leanings. Zodiac Shit continues in the same vein, evoking an Eastern, mystical feel at first before layered hip hop beats and drum patterns emerge and gradually gain the ascendancy.

Of the many collaborators on Cosmogramma, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, is undoubtedly the most high-profile, lending his distinctive vocals to And The World Laughs With You. After his successful collaboration with Modeselektor on the Happy Birthday! album, Yorke once again strikes electronic gold on this release, his aching, warbling vocals providing the ideal complement to FlyLo’s eerie, otherworldly funk backdrop. It’s a tune that wouldn’t seem out of place on Kid A or Amnesiac, though it’s clear from the somewhat limited use of Yorke’s vocals and the myriad of electronic tweaks and glitches that it’s FlyLo, and not Yorke, in the driver’s seat.

Delving deeper into the album, Do The Astral Plane establishes a bouncy, jazzy groove before soaring strings and the rich timbre of Todd Simon’s trumpet pierce through the electro melody. And despite its silly name, Salllliiiiiteee shines, featuring bass virtuosity from Thundercat and warm, jazzy keys from Dorian Concept.

As one would expect with the sort of musical terrain that FlyLo traverses, there are some misses to go with the hits. Opener Clock Catcher is just a bit too haphazard for my liking, while Pickled! fails to produce the blend of organic and electronic textures that works so well on other tracks. But these are minor criticisms. Cosmogramma is another thrilling excursion through the mind of a modern day musical genius. There’s no one else in the world that sounds quite like Flying Lotus and, for an experimental electronic producer, that’s about the highest compliment one can give.

Cosmogramma is out now on Warp through Inertia.