King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have released their 25th (!) studio album, The Silver Cord. Stream it below.
As always with King Gizzard albums, The Silver Cord serves as a platform for the band to explore a variety of musical ideas, this time focusing on: electronic, synth-led arrangements and breaking down the structural notion of a song. The album artwork depicts the Australian group surrounded by a plethora of synths and electronic devices, setting the tone for their computerized compositions, while the two different editions of the album — one standard and one “extended” — cues listeners in as to what to expect.
The standard edition of the album features songs that are, well, more along the lines of what a “standard” pop song would be, with recognizable structures and choruses, and landing somewhere around the 3-minute mark. The “extended” edition, however, presents tracks that range from 10 to 20 minutes, and, as explained in the press release, “stretches the connecting tissue between each track as far as it can, with Gizz operating as their own disco remixers and exploring the infinite possibilities contained within these extended futurist anthems.”
For his part, frontman Stu Mackenize described the standard edition as “condensed, trimming all the fat,” while the extended cut is “the ‘everything’ version.” Continuing, he said: “It’s for the Gizz-heads. I love Donna Summer’s records with Giorgio Moroder, and I’d never listen to the short versions now – I’m one of those people who wants to hear the whole thing. We’re testing the boundaries of people’s attention spans when it comes to listening to music, perhaps – but I’m heavily interested in destroying such concepts.”
The Silver Cord is the third album from Gizz in 2023, following June’s PetroDragonic Apocalypse and January’s Live at Red Rocks ’22. It arrives after the band shared a trio of teaser singles, “Theia,” “The Silver Cord,” and “Set.”
Get King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Tickets Here
Next year, King Gizzard will return to the road, and are booked to play a handful of sets around the world, including two European dates in March and a number of 3-hour “marathon shows” in North America. Check out the band’s full list of dates below, and grab your tickets to see them in the US here (or, if you’d like to catch them in Europe, secure your seats here).
The Silver Cord Artwork:
The Silver Cord Tracklist:
Standard Edition
01. Theia
02. The Silver Cord
03. Set
04. Chang’e
05. Gilgamesh
06. Swan Song
07. Extinction
Extended Edition
01. Theia – Extended Mix
02. The Silver Cord – Extended Mix
03. Set – Extended Mix
04. Chang’e – Extended Mix
05. Gilgamesh – Extended Mix
06. Swan Song – Extended Mix
07. Extinction – Extended Mix
King Gizzard 2024 Tour Dates:
05/22 – Hamburg, DE @ Stadtpark Open Air *
05/25 – London, UK @ Wide Awake Festival
08/16 – Forest Hills, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium *
08/17– Forest Hills, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium *
09/01 – Chicago, IL @ Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island *
09/14 – Quincy, WA @ The Gorge Amphitheatre *
11/15 – Austin, TX @ Germania Insurance Amphitheater *
* = Marathon show
