King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – “Iron Lung”

Haven’t dipped into the Gizzverse in a while, having spent quite a bit of time following the band down psychedelic rabbit holes for the early part of the 2010s up through the plastic funk and metal fury of 2019. The band hasn’t stopped to catch their breath for more than a few moments, even in a stretch that included a pause in touring to reflect the pandemic. Returning to the studio recently, it appears that the band that can kick out five albums a year had an explosion of creativity backed up and brimming, and the result has already netted one album in 2022 and three on the way. These upcoming three are the result of a return to studio experimentation, and I gotta say it sounds good on them.

The second single from the upcoming Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms And Lava feels as loose as the band has in quite some time. The band entered the studio each day with members working in one modality and BPM. Cut from the hours of sessions “Iron Lung” exemplifies the current sway of the the band’s album. Feeling akin to their jazz stretch on Sketches of Brunswick if it were melted into the concept-core of Nonagon and Quarters, there’s a feeling of a band at ease with one another on this song. Rising and falling, lacing in flute and sax, elastic riffs and post-apocalyptic collapse, this is the sound of Gizzard as raw and fluid as they can be. Honestly, I’m all for them to just ditch the vox, hook up with Dwyer’s Bent Arcana and go full fusion. Maybe that’s next, but for now “Iron Lung” toys with the edges of that hallucination.

Support the artist. Buy it HEREhttps://www.roughtrade.com/us/king-gizzard-and-the-lizard-wizard/ice-death-planets-lungs-mushrooms-and-lava.