King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard have shared the first single from their forthcoming album, Flight b741.
Befitting an album with that title, the lead single, “Le Risque”, is accompanied by a music video filmed in an airplane hangar. You can watch the Guy Tyzack-directed clip below.
Tyzack previously worked on King Gizzard’s music video for “Black Hot Soup” in 2021. “We were super lucky to have been granted access to this amazing air hanger,” he says of the “Le Risque” clip. “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. We were so tight for time that I didn’t pee all day.”
“Le Risque” features the vocal debut of the band’s drummer Michael Cavanagh. The track was one of five debuted from their new album during King Gizzard’s recent European tour.
“This is our most collaborative record,” frontman Stu Mackenzie says of Flight b741. “The collaboration was occurring in the room. It was free, and everyone was bringing in songs and ideas. 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 [with] everyone in a room around a couple of microphones, just to give it that feel.”
King Gizzard announced their 26th studio album at the beginning of July, with Flight b741 set to arrive on August 9th through the band’s own p(doom) records imprint.
“Been working real hard on this one,” Mackenzie wrote on social media upon the album’s announcement. “So excited for you all to hear it! Thanks for flying.”
King Gizzard released their most recent album, The Silver Cord, last October.
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard’s “Le Risque” is out now. Flight b741 is out August 9th.
Flight b741 Tracklist:
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”
