Butterfly 3000

Way before King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard dropped this, their 18th studio album in less than a decade, it was clear that the Melbourne six-piece refuses to stay tethered to one idea for too long. So after completing a three-album experiment in microtonal tuning—playing notes that exist between the notes on standard Western scales—with February 2021’s L.W., it’s no surprise to find them poking the reset button again. This time, they’re underscoring the pop in psych-pop with a song suite that funnels their wide-eyed ambition through satisfyingly direct melodies. All built from arpeggiated synth loops, the songs skip off in divergent directions, including the motorik rush of opener “Yours,” shimmering cosmic disco (“Catching Smoke”), and celestial synth-pop (“Interior People”). The scope of the band’s adventure would be dizzying if it weren’t for the smooth turns they forge in and out of each track. In a year marked by lockdowns and limited choices, trust The Giz to have created music that feels so boundless and upbeat.