KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD Released Their 27th Album In 15 Years With ‘PHANTOM ISLAND’
18 June 2025
The inexhaustible prog-psych-rock squad from down under KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD have launched their 27th longplayer in 15 years with PHANTOM ISLAND.
They recorded it with an orchestra, simultaneously
with the making of their 2024 album Flight b741.
British historical keyboardist, conductor, and arranger
Chad Kelley helped them flesh out tracks that needed
more gestation.
Photo by Maclay Heriot
Stu Mackenzie: “He brings this wealth of musical awareness to his chameleon-like arrangements. We come from such different worlds. He plays Mozart and Bach and uses
the same harpsichords they did, and tunes them the exact same way. But he’s obsessed with microtonal music, too, and all this nerdy stuff like me. A lot of love and time and energy and patience and growth went into this one. ”
MOJO (British music monthly): “A dense, cosmic country, limber
astro-funk and psychedelic pop record, it might be KGATLW’s finest
to date.”
TUTV: Despite the vertiginous speed with which the Aussies release albums, they still find ways to surprise instead of copy/paste stuff all the time. This new one is recorded with a full orchestra, including a huge brass team (so it sounds, and it shows on the LP’s cover). Yet, tunewise, they’re still stuck in the psychedelic Grateful Dead 60s with dreamy Jefferson Airplane wanderings and Beach Boys harmonies. Is that a problem? Definitely not. KG & TLW will be fun forever for retro romantics.
SINGLES
ALBUM
