King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard detail their forthcoming album, Flight b741

“We wanted to make something that was primal, instinctual, more ‘from the gut’,” says Gizzard's Stu Mackenzie, “just people in a room, doing what feels right. We wanted to make something fun.” The group booked in two weeks at their studio and worked Monday to Friday, “like factory workers”, clocking in and then rocking out. “We came in with the roughest skeletons for songs,” says Mackenzie, “and tried to keep the arrangements simple, free and easy. The best takes were always the ones where we were winging it pretty significantly.”

“This is our most collaborative record – the collaboration was occurring in the room, it was free, and everyone was bringing in songs and ideas,” says Mackenzie. “And we wanted to have as many lead vocalists as we could, and to pass the mic, like, ‘This is my part, my idea, I’m gonna sing it and then I’m gonna pass the mic along to you and you can do your thing’. The whole record is built around that. We ended up doing a lot of backing vocals and extra recording, everyone in a room around a couple of microphones, just to give it that feel.

The new single features the vocal debut of drummer Michael Cavanagh, and is accompanied by an aviation themed video. Director Guy Tyzack said: “We were super lucky to have been granted access to this amazing air hanger. The song was chosen because most of the Gizz guys had a singing part and I was excited for the mic to be passed around at a fun, never stopping pace. The day was super packed tight for what we wanted to get and we didn't want to cut corners. Our crew was tight and the Gizz guys know how to put on a show. We were so tight for time that I didn't pee all day.”

Flight b741 follows on from last years, The Silver Cord and also PetroDragonic Apocalypse; Or, Dawn Of Eternal Night: An Annihilation Of Planet Earth And The Beginning Of Merciless Damnation. In 2022 they released six albums including the remix album, Butterfly 3001, Made In Timeland, Omnium Gatherum. Three of these albums – Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava; Laminated Denim; and Changes – were all released in October 2022.

Tracklist:

1. Mirage City
2. Antarctica
3. Raw Feel
4. Field Of Vision
5. Hog Calling Contest
6. Le Risque
7. Flight b741
8. Sad Pilot
9. Rats In The Sky
10. Daily Blues