In addition to the dizzying amount of music King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard releases on a yearly basis, the Australian collective’s individual members tend to keep busy with solo projects and side gigs—much of it released via the band’s own p(doom) records. The latest release the label is prepping comes from the band’s bassist/keyboardist Lucas Harwood’s collective Heavy Moss, as their debut album Dead Slow is set for release on November 22. Co-mixed by Harwood and Gizz frontman Stu Mackenzie, the album’s latest single “Treadmills” is a much more muted psych odyssey than what we’re used to from a project within the KG orbit, with Harwood noting that its mesmerizing quality was developed after months of mastering the chords.
“I think I usually come up with ideas that are beyond my technical ability on keys, so I kind of practiced it as I was writing it,” he shares. “I had the chorus chords stuck in my head and I thought they were a different song entirely. It felt weird to mash the two ideas together, but eventually I got there with an ascending chromatic section, which I think bridges the parts without feeling too jolting. To me, the two sections still feel like two different songs or moods, which I really like, and the chorus feels like a song within a song for me. It has a completely different lyrical theme, too.”
The collaborative process saw Harwood’s bandmates repeating their individual parts, as well, until the whole thing ultimately congealed. “The album is pretty split between mine, Kyle [Tickell]’s, and Sam [Ingles]’s songwriting, but I do think a lot of Kyle’s influences and sonic signatures shine through on the chorus on this song—very lush and ambling, which I love.” As for working with Mackenzie, Harwood adds that much of the work on “Treadmills” was done in post-production. “Stu really gave me confidence to make some drastic sonic decisions—namely the stripped back section. Originally the band played all the way through that part, but I felt like it needed a change. He definitely helped find that flow socially throughout the whole song. After he’s mixed the technical nuts and bolts of the song he really just sits back and listens actively to work out what the song needs.”
Check out the trippy visual for the track created by nespy5euro below, and pre-save the record here.
