Flume and JPEGMAFIA are gleefully unhinged in their latest collaboration, “Track 1,” a seven-minute animated video featuring new music.
In a music industry where collaborations are often predictable publicity stunts, these longtime friends tossed convention into the shredder for “Track 1.” As the first glimpse into their new four-track EP, We Live In A Society out May 2nd, it suggests something genuinely innovative in the works.
They first joined forces back in 2019 for “How to Build a Relationship,” which appeared on Flume’s scintillating mixtape Hi This Is Flume. The duo then reunited for “New Black History” from JPEGMAFIA’s 2024 album I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU.
The experimental “Track 1,” Flume’s first release in over two years, arrives as a perfect blend of both artists’ most distinctive traits. Flume’s meticulous, texture-obsessed production pairs with JPEGMAFIA’s raw, confrontational energy to deliver an experimental masterstroke at the intersection of hip-hop and electronic music.
The seven-minute animated video by James Blagden serves as both companion piece and origin story, capturing a hilarious studio session where the boundaries between collaboration and friendly antagonism blurred. Peggy’s merciless roasting of Flume’s production skills—including a playful threat to replace him with Fred again.. in the studio—unfolds against a hallucinatory backdrop of morphing cartoonized bodies and psychedelic color fields. Blagden at one point outfits the rapper with a phallic nose.
As far as the music goes, it’s fresh and inventive, true to form for these boundary-pushing artists. Glitched-out beats create a framework for Peggy’s abrasive vocal stylings before giving way to what can only be described as peak Flume at the 4:25 mark, when a honeyed bass drop wraps around the hypnotic vocal refrain, “How it’s supposed to feel.”
You can watch the animated video for “Track 1” below.
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