"Theia" / "The Silver Cord" / "Set" Released: 3 Oct 2023
"Swan Song"/"Extinction" Released: 22 May 2024
"Set"/"Gilgamesh" Released: 14 September 2024
The Silver Cord is the 25th studio album by Australian psychedelic rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, released on 27 October 2023 on KGLW.[2] Produced by group member Stu Mackenzie, the project is made up of two distinct albums[3] with extended or shortened versions of the same tracks: one lasting 28 minutes, the other 88 minutes.
Inspired by drummer Michael Cavanagh's purchase of a Simmons electronic drum kit,[4] the band eschewed their guitar-based rock sound for this release, instead focusing on synthesizer-based music.
Background and recording
"I love Donna Summer's records with Giorgio Moroder, and I'd never listen to the short versions now—I'm one of those people who wants to hear the whole thing. We're testing the boundaries of people's attention spans when it comes to listening to music, perhaps—but I'm heavily interested in destroying such concepts."
—Producer Stu Mackenzie on the extended versions of songs on The Silver Cord[5]
On 7 May 2023, the band announced their 24th studio album, PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation via Instagram.[6] According to bassist Lucas Harwood, that album would be one of two upcoming albums that would have a "Yin and Yang" concept, stating that they are "going to be very different sounding to each other, but we're going to try to make them complement each other".[7] The seven tracks on the extended versions of this album correspond to tracks on PetroDragonic.[8] This recording was made with synthesizers and analogue recording equipment.[9]
Prior to the album's release, band member Joey Walker described The Silver Cord as "definitely synth-y", with Spin writer Jonathan Cohen drawing comparisons to the band's electronica-influenced Butterfly 3000: "You could draw comparisons in many ways, but just in the nature of us being in the same room and playing and writing together, it's vastly different than Butterfly."[10] The band later noted that they had struggled in adapting Butterfly 3000's studio-based sound to a live setting. According to Mackenzie: "It was a disaster. Totally demoralising. We gave up and started working on the next thing, but it felt like we had done [Butterfly 3000] a bit of a disservice. We were just waiting to do another electronic record that we could make in a room together, waiting for the right moment."[4]
The album's genesis came from drummer Michael Cavanagh impulse buying a Simmons electronic drum kit. Stu Mackenzie recalled: "As soon as he plugged it in… I thought, ‘That’s the sound of the album right there, it’s so amazing and distinctive. We have to commit to this’."[4]
Release
On 27 September, the album was officially announced via their Instagram account, set to be released on 27 October, with preorders happening on 12 October.[11] For the 1LP version the preorders came in "Capybara Baby", "Crystal Ball", "Flying Spirit" and "Quantum Foam" editions, while the 2LP versions came in "Ancient Light", "Shadow on the Moon", "Scorching Sands" and "Rain of Sorrow" editions, all on their US, AU and EU stores, respectively. On 3 October, the first three tracks from the album were released as one single, with an accompanying music video: the standard length versions of "Theia", "The Silver Cord" and "Set".[12]
According to the review aggregator Metacritic, The Silver Cord received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 70 out of 100 from nine critic scores.[13] Editors at AllMusic rated this album 2.5 out of 5 stars, with critic Tim Sendra writing that "Occasionally this sonic exploration yields golden nuggets of sparkling electronic treasure, but most often the finds aren't quite as valuable. Far too often, the band's reach outstrips their ability to make something interesting happen."[14]BrooklynVegan's Bill Pearis chose a three-way tie for Album of the Week, including The Silver Cord, which he stated shows that the band are "as good at bangers as they are rippers" and noting "while I do prefer some of the extended versions of songs, the shorter version of the album plays more like a DJ mix with better flow, while the long one has spacier transitions".[19] Jazz Hodge of Clash scored this release an 8 out of 10, stating that this is "arguably ... their weirdest album to date".[15] Isabel Glasgow of Exclaim! scored The Silver Cord a 7 out of 10, stating that its "hits overpower its misses" and while it "may not be one of the strongest King Gizzard albums, it's the strongest example of the band's versatility and thrill-seeking nature".[17] Writing for Glide Magazine, Ryan Dillon called The Silver Cord "a meticulously pieced-together work of art... the word 'infectious' does not even begin to describe the deep grooves displayed on this LP".[1] In Relix, Ryan Reed wrote that this release "reaches a new peak of conceptual focus".[20]
