Agents of perpetual motion King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard returned on Monday with yet another single, “Hate Dancin'”. The track comes from yet another album, Changes, the band’s third of the month, due out on October 28th via KGLW.
Clocking in at just 3:17 minutes, “Hate Dancin'” is a comparatively concentrated effort for King Gizzard. The song is a mere moment compared to last week’s Laminated Denim, comprised of two 15-minute tracks, as well as Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava from earlier this month, which explored lengthy, jazz-inspired compositions. Simply, the song is inspired by the love-hate relationship many people have with dancing.
“I started writing a song about how I hate dancing, but then I realized that I love dancing,” frontman Stu Mackenzie said.
For Changes, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard returned to a concept album that has eluded them for five years. Originally recorded and intended for release during the band’s marathon 2017—the last time they put out five albums in a single year—the album was put on the shelf and has been gestating until it was finally fit for public consumption.
“I think of Changes as a song-cycle,” Mackenzie said. “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.”
Changes was intended to finish out King Gizzard’s 2017 but was ultimately held back in favor of Gumboot Soup. Now, the wandering concept album has its chance for redemption as it prepares to finish out yet another year in which the psychedelic stalwarts hit the five-album mark.
“It’s not necessarily our most complex record, but every little piece and each sound you hear has been thought about a lot,” Mackenzie concluded.
Check out John Angus Stewart‘s music video for the new King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard single “Hate Dancin'” and head to the Gizzverse to pre-order Changes.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are set to continue their North American tour this coming weekend with shows in Toronto (10/18), Montreal (10/19), and New York (10/21). For a complete list of upcoming tour dates, head to the band’s website.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – “Hate Dancin'” (Official Video)