King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard announced their new album FLIGHT b741 last week, and now they’ve shared details and the first single, “Le Risque.”
While many King Gizzard albums work within a theme or concept — microtonal instruments, all-synth, thrash metal, environmentalism – the band says there was no concept this time. “We wanted to make something that was primal, instinctual, more ‘from the gut’,” says King Gizzard bandleader Stu Mackenzie, “just people in a room, doing what feels right. We wanted to make something fun.”
The group cite The Band and early Steve Miller Band as influences this time, and one thing that is new is that all the band share lead vocal duties. “This is our most collaborative record – the collaboration was occurring in the room, it was free, and everyone was bringing in songs and ideas,” says Mackenzie. “And we wanted to have as many lead vocalists as we could, and to pass the mic, like, ‘This is my part, my idea, I’m gonna sing it and then I’m gonna pass the mic along to you and you can do your thing’. The whole record is built around that. We ended up doing a lot of backing vocals and extra recording, everyone in a room around a couple of microphones, just to give it that feel.”
That collaborative, pass-the-mic feel is front and center on “Le Risque” which is unlike anything King Gizzard have released before. It’s a good time number and the video keeps up the album’s aviation themes (no pigs, though).
Director Guy Tyzack says, “We were super lucky to have been granted access to this amazing air hanger. The song was chosen because most of the Gizz guys had a singing part and I was excited for the mic to be passed around at a fun, never stopping pace. The day was super packed tight for what we wanted to get and we didn’t want to cut corners. Our crew was tight and the Gizz guys know how to put on a show. We were so tight for time that I didn’t pee all day.” Watch below.
FLIGHT b741 will be out August 9 via the band’s new label, (p)doom. Preorder here.
King Gizzard start the North American leg of their 2024 world tour on August 15 in Washington, DC, and play NYC’s Forest Hills Stadium on August 16 & 17 with Geese and DJ Crenshaw. The Forest Hills shows are both special three-hour marathon sets which they are doing at bigger venues around the country. All dates are listed below.
FLIGHT b741
1. Mirage City
2. Antarctica
3. Raw Feel
4. Field Of Vision
5. Hog Calling Contest
6. Le Risque
7. Flight b741
8. Sad Pilot
9. Rats In The Sky
10. Daily Blues
KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD TOUR DATES
Thu. Aug. 15- Washington, DC @ The Anthem % [SOLD OUT]
Fri. Aug. 16- Forest Hills, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium * %
Sat. Aug. 17 – Forest Hills, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium * % [SOLD OUT]
Mon. Aug. 19 – Boston, MA @ The Stage at Suffolk Downs %
Tue. Aug. 20 – Portland, ME @ Thompson’s Point % [SOLD OUT]
Wed. Aug. 21 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage &
Fri. Aug. 23 – Detroit, MI @ Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre ^ &
Sat. Aug. 24 – Cleveland, OH @ Jacobs Pavilion & [SOLD OUT]
Sun. Aug. 25 – Newport, KY @ MegaCorp Pavilion Outdoor &
Tue. Aug. 27 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Dell Music Center & [SOLD OUT]
Wed. Aug. 28 – Richmond, VA @ Brown’s Island &
Fri. Aug. 30 – Asheville, NC @ ExploreAsheville.com Arena & [SOLD OUT]
Sat. Aug. 31 – Nashville, TN @ Ascend Amphitheater &
Sun. Sept. 1 – Chicago, IL @ Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island * & [SOLD OUT]
Tue. Sept. 3 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory &
Wed. Sept. 4 – Milwaukee, WI @ Miller High Life Theatre &
Thu. Sept. 5 – St. Louis, MO @ The Factory & [SOLD OUT]
Fri. Sept. 6 – Omaha, NE @ The Astro Amphitheater &
Sun. Sept. 8 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre & [SOLD OUT]
Mon. Sept. 9 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre [EARLY SHOW] &
Mon. Sept. 9 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre [LATE SHOW] &
Wed. Sept. 11 – Troutdale, OR @ Edgefield Amphitheater & [SOLD OUT]
Thu. Sept. 12 – Vancouver, BC @ Pacific Coliseum &
Sat. Sept. 14 – Quincy, WA @ The Gorge Amphitheatre * %
Fri. Nov. 1 – Inglewood, CA @ The Forum @
Sat. Nov. 2 – San Diego, CA @ The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park ^ @
Sun. Nov. 3 – Paso Robles, CA @ Vina Robles Amphitheatre @ [SOLD OUT]
Mon. Nov. 4 – Stanford, CA @ Frost Amphitheater at Stanford @
Fri. Nov. 8 – Las Vegas, NV @ Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood @
Sat. Nov. 9 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Theatre #
Sun. Nov. 10 – Albuquerque, NM @ Revel Entertainment #
Tue. Nov. 12 – Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion #
Wed. Nov. 13 – Fayetteville, AR @ JJ’s Live # [SOLD OUT]
Fri. Nov. 15 – Austin, TX @ Germania Insurance Amphitheater *#
Sat. Nov. 16 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall #
Sun. Nov. 17 – New Orleans, LA @ Mardi Gras World #
Tue. Nov. 19 – Atlanta, GA @ Fox Theatre Atlanta # [SOLD OUT]
Wed. Nov. 20 – St. Augustine, FL @ St. Augustine Amphitheatre #
Thu. Nov. 21 – Miami, FL @ Factory Town #
Sun. May 18 – Tue. May 20, 2025 – Lisbon, PT @ Coliseu do Recreios
Fri. May 23 – Sun. May 25, 2025 – Barcelona, ES @ Poble Espanyol
Thu. May 29 – Sat. May 31, 2025 – Vilnius, LT @ Lukiškės Prison 2.0
Wed. June 4 – Fri. June 6, 2025 – Athens, GR @ Lycabettus Theatre City of Athens
Sun. June 8 – Tue. June 10, 2025 – Plovdiv, BG @ Ancient Theatre
* 3-HOUR MARATHON SET
^ ACOUSTIC SET
% w/ GEESE, DJ Crenshaw
& w/ GEESE
@ w/ KING STINGRAY, DJ Crenshaw
# w/ KING STINGRAY