King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have shared ‘Kepler-22b’, another new single from forthcoming album ‘Omnium Gatherum’ ahead of its arrival this Friday (April 22).
The blissed out, kaleidoscopic new song samples Barney McAll’s ‘Yemaya One’, a track from the Australian jazz pianist and composer’s 2005 album ‘Mother of Dreams and Secrets’.
“I actually found Barney’s record at a store in New York,” the band’s Cook Craig commented in a statement. “I hadn’t heard any of his stuff before, but remember putting it on and being blown away straight up. I remember thinking damn this is literally a sampler’s dream.
“It took me a while before I actually realised he was from Melbourne too. I guess it’s funny like that, sometimes you gotta travel halfway around the world to discover an inspiring piece of music made by someone who probably lives on the same block as you.”
‘Kepler-22b’ arrives alongside a very colourful, very surreal animated video created by Alex McLaren and claymation artist Sean McAnulty. Watch that below:
“Sean and I wanted to have a mix of different animation styles,” McLaren explains. “The initial aesthetic inspiration was taken from classic abstract painted jazz album covers, then fused with a cruise ship aesthetic that came to us once Ambrose [Kenny-Smith, of King Gizzard] sent some reference footage through of the band in longing around in Hawaiian shirts.”
‘Kepler-22b’ is the third single King Gizzard have released from ‘Omnium Gatherum’, following ‘The Dripping Tap’ and ‘Magenta Mountain’ in March. The album – the band’s 20th – will follow on from 2021’s ‘‘Butterfly 3000’ and this year’s vinyl-only release ‘Made In Timeland’.
The band are currently on the North American leg of an extensive world tour announced last year, with a slew of European dates to come.