Solar Corona take us beyond the sun with their new single, “Parker S.P.”

Photo by Sara Sofia de Melo

For the last 9 years, Porto-based band Solar Corona have been carving their name in the psychedelic rock scene of Southern Europe. Now, they turn their minimal rock into an expansive, ever-churning psychedelic voyage with their newest offering, PACE’, set for release on November 11th on Porto-based record label Lovers and Lollypops.
 
Along with the announcement today, the band share six-minute juggernaut Parker SP, where bouncing bass mingles with propelling drums and meandering spaced-out guitars. A relentlessly grooving trip of a track. The band comment: “A satellite lost grooving amidst light sparks and space debris. Parker S.P. is our take on a fly-by boogie and the first glimpse into the world of psychedelia that makes up PACE, our new album.”
 
Listen to ‘Parker SP’ here: https://youtu.be/ebt-EABZ2Js
 
The band’s fifth release, ‘PACE’, shifts gears with Lorr No (Nuno Loureiro) hitching a ride as a dubmechanic, pulling in the sound of Solar Corona’s core trio—Rodrigo Carvalho (Guitar/synths), Peter Carvalho (drums) and José Roberto Gomes (bass)—into an off-road expanse. The stripped-back songwriting reaches a new directness and power through its simplicity.
 
The raw ideas of each track were jammed out in Alpendurada, a town deep in the Douro Valley. After a two-year distillation process the riffs and sonic materials have reached a concentration not unlike the alchemical moonshine native to Solar Corona’s Portuguese North. Simple principles and steadfast mechanics become channeled into perennial journeys where speed & pace remain distinct.
 
Each track celebrates a specific element in its own way. The introductory ‘Heavy Metal Salts’ establishes the pulsing impulse of PACE’, with sparkling electroacoustic details bringing a lysergic dose to the climactic structure. The title-track ‘Pace’ mellows out Solar Corona’s soundscape, and stands out as a space-mantra without riffs, solos, or the need to headbang. Guitar-led tracks such as ‘Thrust’ and ‘AU’ return to the in-the-red rock-n-roll that is a constant pulse in the veins of the band, before being injected by their new, more ethereal, sonic. ‘Alpendurada’ closes the album in epic proportions as the band weaves in and out of knob-twisting psychedelia and instantly earwormed guitar melodies anchored by a propulsive bass.
 
Solar Corona’s last two releases, ‘Lightning One’ & Saint-Jean-De-Luz’ (released together in 2019), were as a four-piece with Julius Gabriel’s electroacoustic sax brought along for the journey. Gabriel’s departure from the band in 2020, left a seat open for Lorr No (Fugly, Favela Discos) to bring his own patterned twist to the band’s progressive stonerism. Solar Corona’s PACE’ takes its listener on different and ambitious journey.
 
‘PACE’ track list:
1. HEAVY METAL SALTS
2. PACE
3. THRUST
4. AU
5. PARKER SP
6. ALPENDURADA

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity.]

Miss Grit releases industrial-tinged new single, “Like You.”

Photo by Hoseon Sohn

Miss Grit, the New York-based, Korean-American musician Margaret Sohn, returns today with a new single “Like You,” via their new label Mute. Sohn (they/she) created Miss Grit to function as an outlet for their own analysis and expression of self. They are meticulous and introspective, and with “Like You,” they wrestle with listening to one’s inner voices. Which voices are leading to self-sabotage and which are leading towards liberation? What part of ourselves has been forced upon us by the outside world, and what was there to begin with? The magnitude of these questions and musings are reflected in Sohn’s precise, slowly building electric guitars and bold basslines (performed by Zoltan Sindhu), as her voice resonates over: “Bore new, everything is see-through. Confused, they might see they’re like you.” Sohn elaborates: “I had the character of Ex Machina in mind as the voice I was singing from. Her arc in the movie felt really beautiful to me, and I wanted to reach the same ending as her in this song.”

She adds about her recent signing: “Mute is one of the labels I put on a pedestal in my mind, so the fact I was even on their radar was really flattering. And then to think they believed in my music enough to want to work together made me so happy.”

Miss Grit has released two acclaimed EPs over the past three years, Talk, Talk, about the complexities of relationships, and Impostor about their grappling with identity. As a mixed-race, non-binary artist, they have always rejected the limits of identity that are thrust upon them by the outside world, in favor of embracing a more fluid and complex understanding of the self. Produced and recorded by Sohn, “Like You” presents Miss Grit as an artist intent on creating a way of being that is fully and completely their own.

 
Watch Miss Grit’s Lyric Video for “Like You”
 
Miss Grit Tour Dates
Wed. Oct. 26 – Paris, FR @ Super Sonic Records
Thu. Oct. 27 – Antwerp, BE @ Trix Club
Sat. Oct. 29 – Amsterdam, NL @ London Calling
Tue. Nov. 1 – London, UK @ Amazing Grace

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jaycee at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Live: Earthless and The Heavy Company – Piere’s – Ft. Wayne, IN – Sept. 13, 2022

It was the end of the first leg of Earthless‘ U.S. tour, and it turned out to be guitarist Isaiah Mitchell‘s birthday. It also turned out to be another stunning performance by them.

My friend and I go to the venue too late to see the first opening band, Ancient Days, but we did catch The Heavy Company (otherwise known as THC) play a blues-infused rock set that impressed the enthusiastic crowd.

The Heavy Company

Earthless played for a little over an hour, and that set was three songs. If you’re new to Earthless, you need to know that two of those songs were over twenty minutes long, and the third was nearly fifteen minutes long. They don’t skimp anything during a show. They give all every time. I yelled, “I can’t feel my face.” after the end of the second track.

L-R: Isaiah Mitchell, Mario Rubalcaba, Mike Eginton

It’s difficult to describe how much heavy power they unleash. I was reminded during their performance of an analogy my wife heard once about a full jar. Take a large, earthenware jar and fill it with rocks. Is the jar full? No. It may seem like it is, but you could fill the space between the rocks with water. Full now? No, because you could slowly add sand to the jar to absorb the water and take up all the remaining space. Now the jar is so heavy you’d need Hulk-like strength to lift it.

Now change the venue to a music venue that holds about 200 people and change the rocks to Isaiah Mitchell’s bass riffs, the water to Mario Rubalcaba’s drum fills, and the sand to Mike Eginton’s heavy bass riffs and you’ll get the idea.

Keep your mind open.

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Caesar Spencer serves up a perfect end-of-summer track, “Isn’t That What Jimi Said,” from his upcoming album.

Photo by thödol

Imbued with that warm afterglow of reflection that arrives with the Autumn season, the newest single from the Paris-based artist delivers both a tender tribute to the late Jimi Hendrix (who died on September the 18th. 1970) on the one hand, and a sepia-tinted recollection of endless Summer’s past, on the other.

As Caesar elaborates of the song:

““Isn’t That What Jimi Said” is a reminiscence about Summer holidays, and in my case, the ones spent in the South of Sweden. It’s about the Summers you have when you’re 16 years old. You fall in love with a strange girl and then you break up. Was it true love or just a Grease-style Summer loving fling? You’re not really sure and you don’t really know how to handle it.”

“The Jimi in question is actually Jimi Hendrix. It refers to the apocryphal idea that he smashed up his guitars out of sheer frustration because they weren’t able to sufficiently express the sounds he had in his mind. It’s the idea

that the emotions you feel are sometimes so strong that you have no ability to express them in a reasonable way. You’re limited by the tools you’re given. That can be painful to experience but it’s also something that can drive great art. Consider the DIY punk ethos. The technical ability you have to play is less important than the glorious, anarchic energy and sound you’ve created. It’s an imperfect statement of intent which sometimes sounds more authentic and beguiling than something that has been perfectly crafted.”

Featuring the talents of critically acclaimed French star Jean Felzine (Mustang) and his partner Jo Wedin (who delivers the song’s affecting Swedish monologue in her native tongue), its musical arrangements are resplendent in their Procol Harum-hinting hammond organs, lackadaisical guitar strums, loping basslines and retro-soundbites seemingly plucked from seaside holidays gone-by. Think of Traffic’s Paper Sun revisited in 2022.

Directed by Gaétan Boudy, the single’s official music video utilises old 8 mm film of Caesar Spencer as a child in Sweden and intimately ties-in with the undercurrent of themes explored in the track.

As warmly nostalgic as it is winsomely reflective, “Isn’t That What Jimi Said” finds itself right at home on Caesar Spencer’s much-anticipated debut solo album: ‘Get Out Into Yourself’ (coming soon via New Radio Records); a record that shines a light on French musical artistry, while still finding place and purpose to pay homage to classic English pastoral-pop.

As an Englishman born in Peru, with Swedish roots, who now finds himself in France; the debut from Caesar Spencer continues in a long line of songwriters, from Scott Walker to Lee HazlewoodMorrissey to Peter Doherty, who have long looked beyond their patch for a deeper sense of connection. Broadly echoing his own journey to date, Caesar’s debut ‘Get Out Into Yourself’, is a concept-album-of-sorts; inspired by those with nomadic origins and their search for identity. With a loose narrative that follows a protagonist journeying through different cultural landscapes, it unspools a tale laced with existential questions and the quest to find yourself in an ever-shifting world.

Whilst its a record that often switches from vintage British pop to gnarly West Coast surf-rock with a dextrous flick, above all else ‘Get Out Into Yourself’ is an homage to the musical heritage of his newfound home in France.

“It’s simply a love letter to France. I wanted to give something back to a country that has given me so much. And I really wanted to shine a light on this incredibly sophisticated French musical artistry.” says Caesar.

Recorded at the Studio La Fugitive (where acclaimed French band Les Rita Mitsouko recorded) with esteemed producer Gaétan Boudy (Zaz, Alex Renart, Emel Mathlouthi) and his formidable backing band of Fred Lafage (Tony Allen, Paris Dernière) and Frantxoa Erreçarret (Askehoug, Barcella); the album also sees Caesar joined by a raft of prominent special guest appearances. Alongside Jean Felzine (Mustang) and Jo Wedin (who both appear on “Isn’t That What Jimi Said”); a collaboration with 60’s ye-ye chanteuse Jacqueline Taïeb can be heard on previous single “Waiting for Sorrow”). Elsewhere, French punk icon Gilles Tandy (Les Olivensteins), the multi-talented Mareva Galanter, opera star Aurélie Ligerot and FAME’S PROJECT (Jarvis Cocker, Chilly Gonzales) all lend their talents to the album.

Deftly bridging the channel between British and French pop, ‘Get Out Into Yourself’ is a record with a timelessness of sound that dares to dream beyond typical boundaries in its quest for true identity. New Radio Records will shortly confirm the release date. All physical editions of the album will also be accompanied by an elegant conceptual storyboard illustrated by French artist Thierry Beaudenon.

Keep your mind open.

[I think Jimi also said that you should subscribe.]

[Thanks to Caesar!]

Review: Frayle – Skin and Sorrow

I’m going to listen to your record if your band is described to me as “Black Sabbath meets Portishead.”

Such is Cleveland, Ohio’s Frayle and such is their second album, Skin & Sorrow. The album is as dark and haunting as its cover image of lead singer Gwen Strang, who apparently has walked off the set of a lost Hammer Studios film from the early 1960s. Ms. Strang, and the rest of the band (Sean Bilovecky – guitar, Jason Knotek – bass, and Jon Vinson – drums), immediately give you a sense of, “Do not fuck around with these people. They can be your cool friends who will help you through a lot of stuff, though.”

Which is what Skin and Sorrow does. It’s an album about processing grief and heartbreak. It’s a haunting record, but it does seem to offer hope and beauty. Again, the cover image of Strang dressed as mournful ghost conveys death and dread, but she’s holding white roses. Yes, they’re wilted roses, but they haven’t lost all of their color and pedals. They’re still a bit hopeful.

Bilovecky’s opening riff on “Treacle and Revenge” is almost a Godzilla-like roar and Strang’s voice is like smoke curling around your ears as she sings “You promised to love me.” It sounds like the beginning of a curse. The song goes from doom into a brief tear of stadium rock, showing they have serious chops. Knotek’s bass seems to hit extra hard on “Bright Eyes” while Strang sings lullaby-like vocals drifting from an abandoned hospital that’s overgrown with ivy. The title track starts with Link Wray-like guitar chords from Bilovecky, and Vinson’s drums sound like they were recorded late one night / early one morning in the store room of a bar run by warlocks.

It’s interesting how “Ipecac,” a song whose title is the name of medicine that purposefully induces vomiting, is one of the loveliest on the record. Strang sings about purging past wounds and things that are slowly poisoning her, but does it with a sensuality you can’t ignore. The heavy, cosmic “Stars” is a crushing track, both lyrically and sonically.

“Roses” and “Sacrifant” are equally heavy and mesmerizing. “Sacrifant” also has this buzz to it like an angry queen hornet following you around the room. “All the Things I Was” has the queen hornet turn into a raven flying away from Strang and carrying her past trauma on its back to eventually cast into the sun. You’re fully expecting “Song for the Dead” to be creepy and guttural, but it’s more like emerging from a mausoleum as a lovely sunrise has begun. Yes, you might be emerging from it as a ghost, but you’re realizing that it’s going to be okay. The closing track, “Perfect Wound,” reminds me a bit of Nirvana‘s “Something in the Way” with its guitar strums and subject matter, but it’s far more otherworldly than Nirvana’s song, and Strang’s vocals come from under a bridge guarded by sirens instead of trolls.

Skin & Sorrow is beautiful and dark, lovely and sad, uplifting and haunting. How many other bands could pull off a sound like that on just their second record? Not many.

Keep your mind open.

[I’ll have sorrow if you don’t subscribe.]

[Thanks to Maria at Adrenaline PR.]

Review: Flasher – Love Is Yours

The first thought I had after hearing Flasher‘s new album, Love Is Yours, for the first time was, “They could change their name to Lusher.” because they’ve crafted a lusher sound from their previous work, but not lost any of the post-punk fuzz or angular guitars.

Opening track “I Saw You” combines these fuzzy guitars from Taylor Mulitz with sci-fi movie ray gun synths as drummer Emma Baker asks, “Do I sound sincere? Do I make myself clear?” The title track brings out dance floor beats in a song about embracing peace that’s right in front of you (even during a pandemic, as the lyric of “I’m seeing 20-20.” seems to take on a different meaning now). Speaking of lyrics that take on new meaning, Baker’s lyric of “I’m spinning out at home.” on “Little Things” is, on its surface, about a bout of vertigo she suffered, but, through the lens of the pandemic, describes pretty much all of us for a period of about two years.

Mulitz is back on lead vocals for “Nothing,” layering them with spacey synths and sizzling beats from Baker. “I’m on fire. You’re underwater,” he sings on “Still Life,” one of many examples of witty lyrics about the complex nature of romance on the whole record. “All Day Long” has a nice chugging guitar sound to it. “Living is so hard lately,” begins “I’m Better.” You’re not sure about the truthfulness of the title after an opening lyric like that, but the peppy nature of the track can’t be denied.

“Sideways” is a stand-out on the record, with its breezy, bouncy guitars and that lushness I mentioned earlier. It sounds like friends roller skating down the street while eating bomb-pops they just bought from an ice cream truck. “Damage” gets a bit darker, mainly through Multiz’s warped guitar strumming, but Baker’s beats keep your toes tapping. Baker mixes beats from her kit with electro-beats from Owen Wuerker on “Dial Up,” with Mulitz singing about how he can barely stay awake, yet he can’t bring himself to get offline. The closer, “Tangerine,” sends us off on a lush note, but with a bit of a tart edge.

Love Is Yours is a good album from Flasher, even more so when you consider they went from a three-piece to a two-piece after former bassist Daniel Saperstein left the band, Mulitz moved to the west coast, and, oh yeah, there was a pandemic when they recorded it.

Keep your mind open.

[I’ll be better once you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Alf Champion and MDHNTR send us into a “Midsummer Day’s Nightmare.”

Mexico’s ALF CHAMPION and MDHNTR take us on a wild journey through the subconscious with two spellbinding tracks, packed with distorted organic beats and technical wizardry on Midsummer Day’s Nightmare.

The introspective opening track “Gnic Nad” (Drum Version) is filled
with wonder and promise, the synth’s overtones opening you out
into a world you’ve never seen before. Self reflection and mystery
shroud the humming chords while the percussion is precise and insistent, cutting through the reverie.

From the first beat, the tribal drums and meticulous rhythms in
“Alaib Do” (Dream Version) grab you by the shoulders and implore
you to dance. The trippy, almost demonic voices and the
relentlessly pulsing bass lines transport you to a cave in the middle
of the Mexican wilderness, your surroundings ever changing and
morphing with the music. Stabs of jazz infused chords jolt you to
focus just for a second, before squealing synths and relentless
percussion pull you back into the trance.

TRACKLIST

1. Gnic Nad (Drum Version)
2. Alaib Do (Dream Version)

Midsummer Day’s Nightmare was released on the 10th of June,
mastered by Sam at The Green Door and is distributed digitally
on all major platforms by EPM.

Keep your mind open.

[I have nightmares when you don’t subscribe.]

[Thanks to Aaron at Paradise Palms Records.]

Kaytranada remixes Rochelle Jordan’s “All Along” for her upcoming remix album.

Photo by Jessica Gilette

Today, Los Angeles-based artist Rochelle Jordan presents the Kaytranada remix of “All Along” from Play With The Changes Remixed, a reimagination of her acclaimed 2021 album Play With The Changes, out this Friday on Young Art Records. “All Along” (Kaytranada Remix) sees the former tourmates joining forces for a sleek reshaping of Jordan’s futuristic sonic landscape. Play With The Changes Remixed doubles down on Jordan’ original thesis: without experimentation, innovation is impossible. Along with Kaytranda, Jordan taps LSDXOXOSangoByron The AquariusSoul Clap, and more for the remix album.
 

Listen to “All Along” (Kaytranada Remix)

 
Defying categorization to create a project full of slinky, dancefloor-packing burners that channel her U.K. roots, Play With the Changes is reminiscent of Jordan’s childhood nights spent listening to her brother’s 2-step hymns from the other side of the wall. Garnering year-end praise from Billboard, Bandcamp, and more, Play With The Changes presents Jordan as a modern heir in a lineage of powerhouse vocalists with style and imagination. Play With The Changes Remixed precedes Jordan’s upcoming North American tour supporting Channel Tres, which begins September 27th, and includes stops at New York’s Bowery BallroomThe Fonda Theater in Los Angeles, and more.
 

Pre-order Play With The Changes Remixed
 
Listen to “Love You Good (Remix)” ft. LSDXOXO
Listen to “Got Em” (Sango Remix)
Listen to “Something” (Byron The Aquarius Remix)
 
Watch Rochelle Jordan’s KEXP Performance
 
Rochelle Jordan Tour Dates:
(all dates supporting Channel Tres)
Tue. Sep. 27 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
Wed. Sep. 28 – Albuquerque @ Electric Playhouse
Fri. Sep. 30 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s
Sat. Oct. 1- Dallas, TX @ The Echo
Sun. Oct. 2 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live – Studio
Tue. Oct. 4 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
Thu. Oct. 6 – Detroit, MI @ Leland City Park
Fri. Oct. 7 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Hall
Sat. Oct. 8 – Montreal, QC @ S.A.T
Tue. Oct. 11 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
Thu. Oct. 13 – Washington, DC @ Culture
Fri. Oct. 14 – Brooklyn, NY  @ Brooklyn Steel
Sat. Oct. 15 – Brooklyn, NY  @ Brooklyn Steel
Tue. Dec. 6 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theater
Wed. Dec. 7 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theater
Sat. Dec. 10 – San Luis Obispo, CA @ The Fremont Theater
Wed. Dec. 14 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
Thu. Dec. 15 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
Fri. Dec. 16 – Vancouver, BC @ Celebrities Nightclub

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe.]

[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

The Bobby Lees let us know “Ma Likes to Drink” on their final single before their full album’s release.

Photo by Cyrille Bellec

The Bobby Lees offer a final preview of their forthcoming album, Bellevue (Oct. 7, Ipecac Recordings), with today’s release of “Ma Likes To Drink” and its companion video (https://youtu.be/ITo2lETlQfk).

Drummer Macky Bowman said of the track: “To paraphrase John Berger: there is a stark difference between being naked and being a nude. To be naked is to be natural. Stripped of societal confines you are free to be as languorous or wanton as you wish. Even in naked acts of exhibition the primary spiritual benefactor will be the model, not the voyeur. Conversely to be a nude is to be reduced to no more than your physical form, displayed as a trite odalisque for the pleasure of greasy slobs. On an unrelated note we are all very proud of this song and video! We really hope you enjoy. Love you!”

The static shot clip, featuring singer Sam Quartin on a stationary bike sandwiched between a pair of mannequins, was directed by John Swab who also created the band’s videos for “Dig Your Hips” (https://youtu.be/ny6Q-mTsk0g), and the video-meets-film short,  “Hollywood Junkyard” (https://youtu.be/7dnTajHLeyQ).

The Bobby Lees recently wrapped up a European tour that included the Woodstock, N.Y-based band’s first stint in the UK. The four-piece band have several shows coming over the next few months including a free show on Sept. 17 at Rockefeller Center for Indieplaza Fest and an Oct. 9 performance at Aftershock 2022.

The Bobby Lees tour dates:

September 17 New York, NY Rockefeller Plaza (Indieplaza Fest)

September 18 Durham, NC The Pinhook

September 20 Atlanta, GA Masquerade Purgatory

September 22 Asheville, NC The Grey Eagle

September 23 Baltimore, MD Ottobar

October 9 Sacramento, CA Aftershock 2022

October 25 Brooklyn, NY Baby’s All Right

October 28 Woodstock, NY Colony

November 5 Tulsa, OK Cain’s Ballroom

September 18 to 23 w/Geese

“I named the album Bellevue because when I listen back, I hear someone going through that stuff, who is now able to laugh about it and have fun re-telling the stories,” Sam explains. “It’s a reminder for me that the most painful and intense things I go through end up being the most rewarding creatively.” The 13-song album, which was recorded live in-studio, was produced by Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Stapleton, The Raconteurs).

Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry, Henry Rollins…these are just a few of the punk icons who have shown support for Woodstock, NY based band The Bobby Lees. Sam Quartin [vocals, guitar], Macky Bowman [drums], Nick Casa [guitar], and Kendall Wind [bass] — make music that is punk in spirit and soul; unfettered and resolutely honest. To say their sound is wild and untethered is an understatement. It’s the kind of aural exorcism any listener can tap into, something that struck a chord with Henry Rollins who brought them to Ipecac Recordings where Mike Patton and Greg Werckman signed them. 

Bellevue tracklist:

1.    Bellevue

2.    Hollywood Junkyard

3.    Ma Likes To Drink

4.    Death Train

5.    Strange Days

6.    Dig Your Hips

7.    Have You Seen A Girl

8.    In Low

9.    Little Table

10. Monkey Mind

11. Greta Van Fake

12. Be My Enemy

13. Mystery Theme Song

Album pre-orders, which include three vinyl variants: standard black, and limited-edition white and Coke bottle clear as well as a limited-edition white cassette, CD digipak, and digital pre-saves, are available now: https://thebobbylees.lnk.to/bellevue.

Keep your mind open.

[I like it when you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Monica at Speakeasy PR.]

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard to release three albums in October, because of course they are.

Photo by Jason Galea

Today, Australia’s prolific atom-splitting polymaths King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard exceed even the most hyperbolic projections and announce the upcoming release of THREE new albums, all set for flight during the month of October via their own KGLW label. The first to drop will be the Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms And Lava, out October 7th. Following that will be Laminated Denim, dropping somewhat unconventionally on October 12th, a Wednesday. Finally, on October 28th the band will release Changestheir 5th album of the yearAdditionally, they have shared a video for one of the songs off the first of this album triumvirat, “Ice V.” This will all be happening during the height of Gizz’s North American Takeover, as the band traverses across the continent playing their largest venues yet, including three shows at Red Rocks Amphitheater (2 of which are sold out) and New York’s Forest Hills Stadium (where Dylan went electric, no less). As a special treat to those who come and see the band live at some of their biggest shows, limited stock of Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms And Lava will be available at their Greek Theater show in Berkeley, copies of Laminated Denim will be available at Red Rocks, and Changes can be obtained at the Orpheum in New Orleans. Additionally, bundles of all three albums can be pre-ordered here.

 
WATCH VIDEO FOR “ICE V”

Things move fast in the Gizzverse, and before Stu Mackenzie and his bandmates had even completed work on their recent mammoth double album Omnium Gatherum, they’d started sketching out this next record. Their Omnium Gatherum single “The Dripping Tap” had begun life as a handful of ideas and riffs that had arisen at pre-pandemic soundchecks and demos recorded through lockdown. For this new album, however, the group wouldn’t be bringing in any pre-written songs or ideas; instead, they planned to cook up all the music together in the studio, on the spot. “All we had prepared as we walked into the studio were these seven song titles,” says Mackenzie. “I have a list on my phone of hundreds of possible song titles. I’ll never use most of them, but they’re words and phrases I feel could be digested into King Gizzard-world.” Mackenzie selected seven titles from his list that he felt “had a vibe,” and then attached a beats-per-minute value to each one. Each song would also follow one of the seven modes of the major scale: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian.

Over seven days, the group recorded hours and hours of jams, dedicating a day to each mode and BPM. “Naturally, each day’s jams had a different flavor, because each day was in a different scale and a different BPM,” Mackenzie says. “We’d walk into the studio, set everything up, get a rough tempo going and just jam. No preconceived ideas at all, no concepts, no songs. We’d jam for maybe 45 minutes, and then all swap instruments and start again.” The group ended each day with four-to-five hours of new jams in the can. Mackenzie auditioned those jams after the sessions were done, stitching them together into the songs that feature on the 21st studio album by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms And Lava (the initials of the title, IDPLMAL, spell out a mnemonic for the modes). Having assembled full working instrumentals from these jams, Mackenzie and his bandmates began overdubbing flute, organ, percussion and extra guitar over the top. The lyrics, meanwhile, were a group effort. “We had an editable Google Sheet that we were all working on,” says Mackenzie. “Most of the guys in the band wrote a lot of the lyrics, and it was my job to arrange it all and piece it together.”

The result of this radical, experimental creative process is one of the densest, most unpredictable statements from a band whose work always rockets in from unexpected angles accompanied by a wealth of subtext and theorems. But you don’t even need even a passing understanding of those Ancient Greek musical modes to appreciate this adventurous new music.

 
TRACKLISTING
1. Mycelium (7:36)
2. Ice V (10:16)
3. Magma (9:07)
4. Lava (6:41)
5. Hell’s Itch (13:28)
6. Iron Lung (9:05)
7. Gliese 710 (7:49)

“Laminated Denim is an anagram of Made In Timeland” – Stu Mackenzie
 
TRACKLISTING
1. The Land Before Timeland (15:00)
2. Hypertension (15:00)

For half a decade, the sextet has been haunted by one elusive conceptual project that had bested their every attempt (of which there had been several). They first conceived the album back in 2017, a busy year for the group. Within a mere twelve months, they recorded and released five albums of new material, but the band had intended to see out the year with a different album. That album was called Changes, and it’s finally arriving now. “I think of Changes as a song-cycle,” says band-member Stu Mackenzie. “Every song is built around this one chord progression – every track is like a variation on a theme. But I don’t know if we had the musical vocabulary yet to complete the idea at that time. We recorded some of it then, including the version of “Exploding Suns” that’s on the finished album. But 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.”

The group abandoned Changes and instead prepared the beguiling Gumboot Soup (the last of five albums the band released in 2017), and were then quickly ensnared by about eight other outlandish ideas that sent them in infinite new directions. But the concept of Changes did not go gently into that good night. “We really have been tinkering with it since then,” Mackenzie adds.

“It’s not necessarily our most complex record, but every little piece and each sound you hear has been thought about a lot,” Mackenzie adds. Indeed, the album has gestated over a fitfully inventive five years. Originally imagined as the group’s fifth album of 2017, it has ended up the fifth album King Gizzard will release in 2022. Coincidences like this, Mackenzie says, wake up the latent numerologist within him. But the album has taught him that projects operate to their own schedules and are ready when they’re ready.

Good things come to those who wait, and the magnificent Changes is worth every one of the 2,628,000 minutes King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard invested in it. Soaked in the warm sonics of 70s R’n’B and guided by simple chord-changes that contain multitudes and rounding out another remarkable year for the group, Changes is a luminous, soft-pop marvel. Come lose yourself in its slow-cooked brilliance.

 
TRACKLISTING
1. Change (13:04)
2. Hate Dancin’ (3:16)
3. Astroturf (7:34)
4. No Body (3:42)
5. Gondii (4:57)
6. Exploding Suns (4:41)
7. Short Change (2:51)
 
TOUR DATES
Fri. Sept. 30 – Perris, CA @ Desert Daze 2022
Sun. Oct. 2 – Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre * SOLD OUT
Tue. Oct. 4 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater * SOLD OUT
Wed. Oct. 5 – Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum *
Thu. Oct. 6 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre * SOLD OUT
Mon. Oct. 10 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre *  SOLD OUT
Tue. Oct. 11 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre *  SOLD OUT
Fri. Oct. 14 – St Paul, MN @ The Palace Theatre * SOLD OUT
Sat. Oct. 15 – Chicago, IL @ RADIUS * SOLD OUT
Sun. Oct. 16 – Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple *
Tue. Oct. 18 – Toronto, ON @ History * SOLD OUT
Wed. Oct. 19 – Montreal, QC @ L’Olympia * SOLD OUT
Fri. Oct. 21 – Forest Hills, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium %
Sat. Oct. 22 – Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall * SOLD OUT
Sun. Oct. 23 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem * SOLD OUT
Mon. Oct. 24 – Asheville, NC @ Rabbit Rabbit * SOLD OUT
Wed. Oct. 26 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern * SOLD OUT
Thu. Oct. 27 – New Orleans, LA @ Orpheum Theater *
Fri. Oct. 28 – Austin, TX @ Levitation  – Stubb’s *
Sat. Oct. 29 – Austin, TX @ Levitation – Stubb’s $
Mon. Oct.  31 – Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion #
Wed. Nov. 2nd – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre #
Thu. Dec. 29 – Tauranga, NZ @ Wharepai Domain
Sat. Dec. 31 – Wanaka, NZ @ Rhythm & Alps
Wed. Jan. 4 – Auckland, NZ @ The Matakana Country Park
Thu. Apr. 6 – Byron Bay, AUS @ Byron Bay Bluesfest
Fri. Apr. 7 – Byron Bay, AUS @ Byron Bay Bluesfest
Sat. Apr. 8  – Byron Bay, AUS @ Byron Bay Bluesfest
Sun. Apr. 9 – Byron Bay, AUS @ Byron Bay Bluesfest
Mon. Apr. 10 – Byron Bay, AUS @ Byron Bay Bluesfest
 
 * w/ Leah Senior
% w/ black midi, Leah Senior
​$ ​w/ Tropical Fuck Storm, The Murlocs
# w/ The Murlocs, Leah Senior
 

King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard Online:
https://kinggizzardandthelizardwizard.com/
https://www.instagram.com/kinggizzard/
https://www.facebook.com/kinggizzardandthelizardwizard/
https://twitter.com/kinggizzard
https://kinggizzard.bandcamp.com/
https://gizzverse.com/

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[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]