You might be forgiven for thinking that music comes easily to King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. After all, releasing 22 full-length albums in ten years is a feat that only a band who have tunes flowing directly from mind to record could achieve. However, this isn’t always the case – the concept for 23rd album Changes took root five years ago in 2017, with many failed attempts at recording until now. Closing a month of three album releases with its drop on October 28 2022, Changes abandons the free-form jam session soundscape of the previous two records in favour of a structurally considered song-cycle, finally releasing half a decade’s worth of creative journeys and struggles into the world.
The concept that gave King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard such artistic headaches is a relatively simple one – an album based on changing only between two chords and scales, D and F#. This concept and the entire record is encapsulated in its title track, a rhapsody in two keys that takes up over a quarter of its 40-minute length. Beginning with an extended jazzy section, ‘Change’ lyrically lays out the record’s themes of change, the reasons behind it, and what type of world we could live in with the right changes made: “Change for its own sake / Uniformity gave me a belly ache … Who could we be given equal opportunity? / What could we see given equal chance to actually see change?”.
The accompanying music also invites the listener into this world of ‘Change’, travelling from this chilled jazz opening through more urgent, rhythmic patterns, hip-hop, sing-along poppy chants, and driving motorik beat climaxes. All tied together in this jazzy sound by swinging drums, both electric and upright bass, and Hammond organ-esque keyboards on the assigned chords, ‘Change’ immediately sets out the record’s stall in a perfect 13-minute exploration of the eponymous theme and all its offshoots.
While the opening track may seem to follow in the footsteps of the two preceding jam albums lengthwise, lead single ‘Hate Dancin’ immediately puts paid to any suggestion that the rest of Changes may be the same. A comparatively simple track, this short and snappy three-minute groover is guaranteed to see any dance hater follow in the narrator’s footsteps and begin to “freak out from the waist down”. This grooving will continue into ‘Astroturf’, a menacing yet danceable number inflected with syncopated winds and an extremely locked in rhythm section. Decrying the natural impact of unnatural grass, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard add to their already extensive multi-genre discography of environmental tunes in exquisite fashion. The more things change, the more they stay the same!
Changes isn’t all moving and shaking, however. The languid ‘No Body’ explores the morbid relief that death and escape from dependence on technology will bring, while the sparser ‘Exploding Suns’ details just that with satisfyingly accurate science – the call of “A change is gonna come (8 minutes and 20 seconds)” references the distance in light minutes the Sun is away from Earth, and therefore how long it would take after the fact for us to notice that it had exploded. Endearingly nerdy lyrics aside, these tracks highlight the versatility of the band, showing the many ways that they can spin just two chords into a variety of different sounds.
Sandwiched in between these dourer tracks is a highlight that is certain to be a favourite in the group’s discography upon release. Ditching the band instrumentation found throughout the rest of the record, ‘Gondii’ is a synth-rock rollercoaster with pulsating basslines, swelling chords, and urgent vocals – even if their lyrics are in reference to a parasite that makes humans behave like cats! No matter how niche the topic however, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard always seem to make it sound like the most important thing to sing about, and that’s no different in this case.
Following ‘Exploding Suns’, the band bring the album full circle with ‘Short Change’ – also completing the acronym of the album title with each track’s initials. Combining the chord presentation of ‘Change’ with the video game synth-rock urgency of ‘Gondii’, the six-piece conclude with a short, sweet, yet breakneck track that’ll encourage all listeners to head back to the album’s start and listen again – repeatedly.
Conceived in 2017 during the Australian group’s previous run of five albums, Changes will finally see the light five years later in yet another five-release year. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s examination of change maintains attention for its entire 40-minute duration despite working with the same two chords throughout, presenting different styles to pique interest and familiar structures and topics for fans to latch onto. This may be the album that the band have struggled the most with, but it is certainly worth the wait.
Words by David Harrold
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