King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard detail forthcoming album, Phantom Island

The roots of the album can be traced back to the group’s show at the Hollywood Bowl in June 2023. King Gizzard met some members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic backstage who urged them to take part in an annual series where the orchestra plays alongside rock and pop acts.

The results of the sessions that yielded that 2024's Aria-nominated Flight b741 also yielded ten further songs that didn’t quite fit the Flight b741 vibe, and which, Mackenzie says, “were harder to finish. Musically, they needed a little more time and space and thought.” Quickly, the group’s collective mind leapt to the LA Philharmonic.

“The songs felt like they needed this other energy and colour, that we needed to splash some different paint on the canvas,” Mackenzie says. He reached out to friend, British historical keyboardist, conductor and arranger Chad Kelly. “He brings this wealth of musical awareness to his chameleon-like arrangements," Mackenzie says. “We come from such different worlds – he plays Mozart and Bach and uses the same harpsichords they did, and tunes them the exact same way. But he's obsessed with microtonal music, too, and all this nerdy stuff like me.”

There’s a wiser, more mature, more sensitive Gizz at play here, questioning their place within the universe, their responsibilities, the ties that bind. “When I was younger, I was just interested in freaking people out,” admits Mackenzie, “but as I get older, I'm much more interested in connecting with people.”