King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard “Hate Dancin’

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard unveil their new single/video, “Hate Dancin’,” taken from their forthcoming album Changes

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard unveil their new single/video, “Hate Dancin’,” taken from their forthcoming album Changes, out October 28th on KGLW. Following last week’s Laminated Denim – an album written specifically with their recent sold-out Marathon Shows at Red Rocks in mind – and Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms And Lava, Changes marks King Gizzard’s third and final album of October. Originally imagined as the group’s fifth album of 2017, Changes has ended up the sixth album King Gizzard will release in 2022 (rounded out by April’s double album, Omnium Gatherum, January’s Butterfly 3001 remix record, and March’s Made in Timeland, the latter of which was just surprised-released on DSPs for the first time). “Hate Dancin’” is a tight number, clocking in just above the 3-minute mark. “I started writing a song about how I hate dancing, but then I realized that I love dancing,”says Gizz frontman Stu Mackenzie. The accompanying video puts the band’s exquisite moves front and center.

For half a decade, the sextet has been haunted by one elusive conceptual project that had bested their every attempt (of which there had been several). They first conceived the album back in 2017, a busy year for the group. Within a mere twelve months, they recorded and released five albums of new material, but the band had intended to see out the year with a different album. That album was called Changes, and it’s finally arriving now. “I think of Changes as a song-cycle,” says band-member Stu Mackenzie. “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.”

The group abandoned Changes and instead prepared the beguiling Gumboot Soup (the last of five albums the band released in 2017), and were then quickly ensnared by about eight other outlandish ideas that sent them in infinite new directions. But the concept of Changes did not go gently into that good night. “We really have been tinkering with it since then,” Mackenzie adds.

“It’s not necessarily our most complex record, but every little piece and each sound you hear has been thought about a lot,” Mackenzie adds. Indeed, the album has gestated over a fitfully inventive five years. But the album has taught him that projects operate to their own schedules and are ready when they’re ready.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard 2022 Tour Dates

Tue. Oct. 18 – Toronto, ON @ History * SOLD OUT
Wed. Oct. 19 – Montreal, QC @ L’Olympia * SOLD OUT
Fri. Oct. 21 – Forest Hills, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium %
Sat. Oct. 22 – Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall * SOLD OUT
Sun. Oct. 23 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem * SOLD OUT
Mon. Oct. 24 – Asheville, NC @ Rabbit Rabbit * SOLD OUT
Wed. Oct. 26 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern * SOLD OUT
Thu. Oct. 27 – New Orleans, LA @ Orpheum Theater * SOLD OUT
Fri. Oct. 28 – Austin, TX @ Levitation – Stubb’s * SOLD OUT
Sat. Oct. 29 – Austin, TX @ Levitation – Stubb’s $ SOLD OUT
Mon. Oct. 31 – Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion #
Wed. Nov. 2nd – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre # SOLD OUT
Sat. Dec. 10 – St. Kilda, AUS @ The Palace Foreshore @
Thu. Dec. 29 – Tauranga, NZ @ Wharepai Domain
Sat. Dec. 31 – Wanaka, NZ @ Rhythm & Alps
Wed. Jan. 4 – Auckland, NZ @ The Matakana Country Park
Fri. Jan. 6 – New Plymouth, NZ @ Bowl of Brooklands
Thu. Mar. 2 – Paris, FR @ Zenith
Fri. Mar. 3 – Amsterdam, NL @ Gashoulder
Sat. Mar. 4 – Tilburg, NE @ 013
Mon. Mar. 6 – Malmo, SE @ Plan B
Tue. Mar. 7 – Stockholm, SE @ Munchenbryggeriet
Wed. Mar. 8 – Oslo, NE @ Sentrum Scene
Thu. Mar. 9 – Copenhagen, DK @ Den Gra Hal
Sat. Mar. 11 – Warsaw, PL @ Progesja
Sun. Mar. 12 – Prague, CZ @ Lucerna Velky Sal
Mon. Mar. 13 – Vienna, AT @ Gasometer
Wed. Mar. 15 – Milan, IT @ Alcatraz
Thu. Mar. 16 – Zurich, CH @ X-Tra
Fri. Mar. 17 – Lausanne, CH @ Les Docks
Sat. Mar. 18 – Wiesbaden, DE @ Schlachthof
Mon. Mar. 20 – Brussels, DE @ Cirque Royale
Wed. Mar. 22 – London,UK @ Brixton Academy
Thu. Mar. 23 – London, UK @ Brixton Academy
Thu. Mar. 30 – Sydney, AUS @ Big Top Luna Park
Thu. Apr. 6 – Byron Bay, AUS @ Tivoli
Fri. Apr. 7 – Byron Bay, AUS @ Byron Bay Bluesfest