L.W. | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 25 February 2021 | |||
Recorded | 2020 | |||
Genre | Psychedelic rock [1] [2] | |||
Length | 42:10 | |||
Label | Flightless | |||
Producer | Stu Mackenzie | |||
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard chronology | ||||
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Full chronology | ||||
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Singles from L.W. | ||||
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L.W. (subtitled Explorations into Microtonal Tuning,Volume 3) is the seventeenth studio album by Australian psychedelic rock band King Gizzard &the Lizard Wizard,released on 25 February 2021 by Flightless. [3] The album was preceded by 3 singles,("If Not Now,Then When?", [4] "O.N.E." [5] and "Pleura" [6] ) which were released alongside music videos uploaded to YouTube. L.W. is a companion album to K.G. Explorations into Microtonal Tuning,Volume 2 ,released only four months before,and a continuation of microtonal themes first featured in Flying Microtonal Banana (2017). [7]
The album was hinted at as early as October 2020,before the previous album had even been released. The band released a shirt with their full discography on the back,where fans deduced that the final letters,"K.G.L.W.",were referring to the band's upcoming album, K.G. and a future album,presumably titled "L.W.". [8]
The album's opening track,"If Not Now,Then When?" was released as a single on 10 December 2020,and was accompanied with a music video,uploaded to the band's official YouTube page. [9] The singles "O.N.E." and "Pleura" were released on January 28 and February 18,respectively,with accompanying music videos - with the latter recorded,edited,and uploaded to YouTube in under a day. [6]
The album's existence was confirmed by a listing on the online music store Elusive Disc,where a listing for the album's pre-order had appeared. This listing also confirmed the tracklist and release date,albeit by accident. [10] The band itself clarified that this was untrue,with the album "definitely not coming out in February",but later backtracked,giving three different release dates for the album,eventually confirming the release date. [5] [6] On February 22,a final teaser snippet was uploaded to YouTube,featuring a minute of audio from the sludge-metal track "K.G.L.W". The video,created by long-time band collaborator Jason Galea and titled From the bowels of hell,comes L.W (real footage),is a 3D animation featuring an army of skeletons working to forge a number of chains,which they use to pull the L.W. logo out of a pit of lava - announcing the final release date of February 26. [11] It was then released a day early on their personal Bandcamp page.
L.W. has been praised for exploring and utilizing a diverse array of facets from psychedelia genres and incorporating an "Eastern" sound. [12]
The album starts with the psychedelic funk song:"If Not Now,Then When?," with "O.N.E." and "Supreme Ascendancy" continuing to utilize the funk. "Ataraxia" has been described as dark and Sabbath-meets-T-Rex-like,and is followed by the penultimate "See Me," which is "a slice of experimental psychedelia." [12]
"Static Electricity" takes on motorik acid folk,while L.W. ends with the sludge metal mantra of "K.G.L.W." [13] "K.G.L.W." has also been described as heavy psych. [12]
L.W. was well received by critics,with reviewers such as Pitchfork and Exclaim differing in their opinions on whether it was a stronger album than its predecessor. [14] [15] Among professional critics,L.W. received an average Metacritic score of 82 (versus 77 for K.G.);their scores were 8.3 and 8.9 respectively among users of the site. [16] [17]
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 82/100 [18] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Clash | 8/10 [20] |
Exclaim! | 7/10 [14] |
Pitchfork | 7.5/10 [13] |
Vinyl releases have tracks 1-5 on Side A and tracks 6-9 on Side B.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "If Not Now, Then When?" | Stu Mackenzie | 3:50 |
2. | "O.N.E." | Mackenzie | 3:40 |
3. | "Pleura" |
| 4:11 |
4. | "Supreme Ascendancy" |
| 3:40 |
5. | "Static Electricity" |
| 5:50 |
6. | "East West Link" | Mackenzie | 3:09 |
7. | "Ataraxia" | Walker | 5:18 |
8. | "See Me" | Mackenzie | 4:04 |
9. | "K.G.L.W." | Mackenzie | 8:28 |
Total length: | 42:10 |
Credits for L.W. adapted from liner notes
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
Production and design
Chart (2021) | Peak position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA) [21] | 4 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [22] | 119 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [23] | 56 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [24] | 37 |
US Top Album Sales (Billboard) [25] | 35 |