Written by Tom Bedding
After a story of two halves with back to back releases of the 'K.G. and 'L.W.' in the last year, King Gizzard go for subtle pop melodies and synth work on their 18th studio album. It may not hit the heights of their best, however this Aussie outfit are still showing how they are one of the most consistent and impressive guitar outfits in the world.
Such a lovely synth line runs through the opener ‘Yours’, with lead singer Stu Mackenzie singing over a sweet melody and offering a solid falsetto vocal delivery. No more micro tuning of the last two records though, in comes an aim of capturing a sound that contains infectious melodies and subtle pop touches, which all in all feels very refreshing by the band. With regards to the opening track, it sets the scene well (with some nice bass playing) despite it possibly running on for a tad too long, with its repetitive melody.
The atmosphere within ‘Shanghai’ meanwhile generally makes you feel like you are sailing into said city, again it feels so pretty but slightly bizarre throughout. The synth hook is extremely engaging and with some falsetto vocals again, the listener can pretty much guess where the rest of the album is going to go to. ‘Shanghai’ is steered by Michael Cavanagh’s drumming and supports another simple but infectious melody, with the lyrics ‘bye bye Shanghai, Ive become a butterfly’ being part of the main hook.
Fair play to the band with the transition that goes into ‘Dreams’, which brings in a fuller sound to the LP and beautifully expands with its dreamy sound and execution. It feels like everything comes to life on this song, which is backed up by a great 80’s keyboard part and Stu sounding like he is in some sort of spacey-dream place. Naturally, King Gizzard are not afraid to alienate listeners who are not up for something odd but if you are into their motive, then ‘Dreams’ will be a true highlight for you on ‘Butterfly 3000’.
Techno sounds and a slight 90’s house rhythm comes together in ‘Blue Morpho’ but the psychedelic nature of King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, is still the main show on this track. The moodiness of the song gives the listener a surprising shift in tone and gives the bands 18th studio album, some much needed meat to it. It is not surprising that after all these albums, that the band know how to curate a record, yet it still feels impressive that they know how to pace/manoeuvre an LP.
The sound of the instrumentation at the start of ‘Interior People’ is gorgeously lush, with some dramatic piano chord moments in the mix that really reinforces this grand beginning. However King Gizzard just don’t offer what you expect, as the Aussie band nail a groove and synth undertones on this ’Sympathy of The Devil’ inspired track. It’s incredibly impressive how the band manage to bring in these synth textures to a song, that is forever twisting between being electric and stripped back.
credit: Jason Galea
Stomping rhythms follows and gives the album yet another great twist with ‘Catching Smoke’, containing another infectious piece of music and synth work. As we get to the halfway mark, Stranger Things like synths set the scene over a more sinister drumming sound and then we are thrown back into the songs main hook, it’s a mighty journey! The percussion on ‘Catching Smoke’ is fantastic and Stu’s vocal performance is entertaining and just staple King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard magic.
Then, you feel the beginning of ‘2.02 Killer Year’ is very them and possibly too much, however the vocal melody performed here feels very inspired by the recent Tame Impala record, obviously not a bad thing. It could be the first time on this record that King Gizzard let their standards down here, as we are not given anything to grab onto and revel in. The chiming synths that come along later in the song sound sweet but it gets a bit mundane after 20 seconds, unfortunately.
The only negative aspect of ‘Butterfly 3000’, is that it may only be dipping its toe into the synth world and needed tracks like ‘Black Hot Soup’, to really go somewhere truly bizarre. It feels incredibly immersive with its busy instrumentation and backing vocals but the band feel like they are on cruise control, which is a real shame.
However, I love how magical the beginnings of ‘Ya Love’ feels, King Gizzard really makes it feel like that this song has been blown into our paths by some sort of magical wind. ’Ya Love’ has a great tone to it, bringing back the pop melodies from the first third of the album and matches up to those earlier moments too.
‘Butterfly 3000’ finishes with the title track and is the shortest cut on the entire album, with it being a lovely sounding final moment for the bands 18th studio album. King Gizzard And The Lizard yet again show how they can continuously offer such consistent and engaging music, even if it does not hit their exceptional heights that we have seen over the years. Nevertheless, to think they are shy of having twenty studio albums under their belt and are still able to release projects like this, it truly blows your mind and socks off.
Bring Me The Music Recommended Tracks: Shanghai, Interior People and Catching Smoke
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