‘Changes’ Review: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard deliver carefully-planned experimentation
In 2017, Australian music makers King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard set themselves the mammoth task of releasing five albums over the year. Although the band achieved this staggering feat, releasing some of their best works to date during this period, the fifth album, Gumboot Soup, was almost an entirely different project.
Changes, the band’s 23rd studio album, would’ve been their 13th if they had continued working on it five years ago. Lead vocalist Stu Mackenzie discussed the initial conception of the album, stating: “I don’t know if we had the musical vocabulary yet to complete the idea at that time. […] When the sessions were over, it just never felt done. It was like this idea that was in our heads, but we just couldn’t reach. We just didn’t know yet how to do what we wanted to do.”
This might seem like an odd statement to come from a band that has previously experimented with microtonal tuning, infinitely looping albums, sci-fi spoken word, and climate-change-themed thrash metal. However, Changes proves that even the most prolific musicians sometimes need extended time to slow-cook an album to their satisfaction. Mackenzie explained that the music in Changes is “built around these two scales – every song is constantly changing key, oscillating between two different scales every chord-change. You’re in two different worlds at the same time with the whole record.” The prevailing theme of change that lingered over the album’s production, emphasised by the five years it took to complete, naturally inspired the lyrical content.
The album opens with 13-minute ‘Change’. Immediately, the song draws sonic parallels to King Gizzard’s album Sketches of Brunswick East, made in collaboration with Mild High Club, one of the five 2017 releases. Whilst ‘Change’ begins slowly and maintains a relaxed beat for most of the song, even using keys reminiscent of ‘I Am The Walrus’, the last few minutes threaten its stability, reassuring us that the band’s usual heaviness won’t be completely absent on Changes. Although ‘Change’ isn’t the band’s best long song, it’s still a solid opener, albeit one of the album’s less impressive cuts.
The latest single ‘Hate Dancin’ comes next, which fans have compared to ‘Beginner’s Luck’ from Gumboot Soup. Mackenzie explained: “I started writing a song about how I hate dancing, but then I realised that I love dancing.” The song’s instrumentation follows a similar trajectory – picking up tempo as Mackenzie’s lyrics align himself with a celebration of boogieing. The short and sweet track is championed by ‘Astroturf’, which contains seven minutes of flutes, bouncy rhythms, and existential lyricism: “Six butterflies fluttered by, looked horrified/ This is where I will die… I will cry on astroturf”.
Perhaps the standout track – and one of the band’s most captivating releases of the year – is ‘No Body’. The word ‘sexy’ probably doesn’t spring to mind when asked to describe King Gizzard’s music; however, ‘No Body’ flows with sensuality as it ends with an extended instrumental outro.
The band prove that using a specific idea, such as chord changes, doesn’t constrain them to a particular sound. The last few tracks cover widely different territories whilst still sounding cohesive in relation to each other. Whereas 1980s-inspired spacey synths and Motorik beats drive ‘Gondii’, hazy ‘Exploding Suns’ brings us back to Earth with slow rhythms that parallel Oddments hit ‘Work This Time’.
As the album draws to a close with ‘Short Change’, which bubbles with synths, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard prove themselves to be masters of experimentation. Changes is no Nonagon Infinity, Infest the Rat’s Nest or Flying Microtonal Banana, but these incredible albums naturally take some beating. The band’s 23rd effort feels concise and lovingly made, delivering some of the band’s most tender and mature moments yet.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out New Music Newsletter
All the latest New Music from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.