King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushroom And Lava

Ambitious as a rule, Melbourne ensemble King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard devote their 21st studio album to exploring each of the seven modes of music’s major scale. The resulting seven-track odyssey—just one of three albums King Gizz are releasing during a single month in 2022—was born from open jams with band members freely swapping instruments. You can hear that celebratory spirit at every turn here, especially in the whimsical flute passages. Opener “Mycelium” plays like a jaunty 1960s psych-pop tune, while wah-wah guitar washes over a snappy rhythm section of “Ice V”. Considering all of their elaborate scene changes in the past, it’s no shock to hear King Gizz move fluidly across prog, folk, Afrobeat and funk on these marathon experiments. Yet the intricate layers and seamless dynamic shifts are just as impressive as the band’s communal vocal harmonies and the newfound influence of Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock.