The Silver Cord is the 25th studio album by Australian psychedelic rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, released on 27 October 2023. The project is made up of two distinct albums with extended or shortened versions of the same tracks: one lasting 28 minutes, the other 88. The band has eschewed typical guitar-based rock for this release, instead focusing on synthesizers.
Background
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. 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". This recording was made with synthesizers and analogue recording equipment.
On 12 September, band member Joey Walker stated that the follow up to PetroDragonic Apocalypse is "definitely synth-y", with Spin writer Jonathan Cohen drawing comparisons to 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." 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. 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: the standard length versions of "Theia", "The Silver Cord" and "Set".
Reception
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." BrooklynVegans 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". Jazz Hodge of Clash scored this release an 8 out of 10, stating that this is "arguably ... their weirdest album to date". 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". 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".
Track listing
All tracks written by Stu Mackenzie, Ambrose Kenny-Smith, Joey Walker, Cook Craig, Lucas Harwood and Michael Cavanagh. The album comes in both a standard and extended version, the latter featuring the same songs with longer run times. The vinyl release for the standard mix has tracks 1–4 on side A and tracks 5–7 on side B. The extended vinyl release has track 1 on side A, tracks 2 and 3 on side B, tracks 4 and 5 on side C, and tracks 6 and 7 on side D. "Theia" – 3:24 [Extended Mix – 20:41] "The Silver Cord" – 4:20 [Extended Mix – 12:45] "Set" – 3:56 [Extended Mix – 10:18] "Chang'e" – 3:46 [Extended Mix – 10:46] "Gilgamesh" – 3:43 [Extended Mix – 11:16] "Swan Song" – 4:25 [Extended Mix – 10:29] "Extinction" – 4:40 [Extended Mix – 12:29]
Standard edition vinyl hidden tracks (hidden tracks appear on the vinyl as A5, B4 and B5) "Space Junk" – 4:35 "Plasma" – 3:09 "Embryo" – 4:07