King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: Paper Mache Dream Balloon [ATO RECORDS]

Why you'll love it

This ATO reissue brings back the band's 2015 detour into psych folk. It reached No. 10 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart and No. 37 in Australia, with "Paper Mâché Dream Balloon" and "Trapdoor" as the singles.

About the album

Paper Mâché Dream Balloon is King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's seventh studio album, out on 13 November 2015 via Bandcamp and a week later on Heavenly Records. Known for their prolific output and genre-hopping style, the Australian band took a different approach this time, using almost entirely acoustic instruments.

Frontman Stu Mackenzie, looking back at records like I'm in Your Mind Fuzz and Quarters!, wanted to break away from concept albums and the electric guitar-heavy sound. Instead, they recorded short, unrelated songs using acoustic guitars, flute, double bass, fiddle, harmonica, clarinet and whatever else they could find. The album was recorded mostly in an empty shipping container on Mackenzie's family farm in rural Victoria, surrounded by horses, emus and Tim Tams.

Despite avoiding a strict theme, the decision to go fully acoustic gave the album a concept of its own, and it shows off the band's ever-evolving creativity. "Sense" and "Most Of What I Like" have a sunny '60s lilt, and Mackenzie plays nearly everything somewhere on the record, sitar included. Twenty-odd albums later, it's still the one to put on when the neighbours have asked nicely.

Also at Kops: more King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard on vinyl · browse Rock

Tracklist

Listen

On ATO Records (cat# ATO-0288), a reissue of the 2015 album.