7/10

It almost feels like King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are becoming too prolific for their own good. Despite only releasing their debut album '12 Bar Bruise' exactly a decade ago, the band have barely spent more than a few months between new albums, regularly experimenting with their psych-rock aesthetic or dumping it altogether for something completely different. But after a whopping four LPs already in 2022, the band are back once again with their twenty-third studio album 'Changes', a record that sees them hone in on a calmer and more atmospheric direction.

While the band are usually ones to adopt a harder and more driven aesthetic within their sound, 'Changes' is a lounge-inspired release that presents itself as the perfect curtain call for the year they've had. Branching further towards the 70s R&B groove that has occasionally infiltrated their sound in recent years, their newest release makes for wonderfully woozy listening. Keeping the overall feel of this record more refined and stripped-back to what we are used to, King Gizzard show no signs of slowing down or even having trouble embracing on fresh and invigorating concepts.

You'd expect a band with this much productivity to falter from time to time, and while their recent run has been hard to keep up with, 'Changes' still offers up a new and interesting field to venture through. Brimming with rich and enigmatic textures throughout, they are somehow still keeping their bustling ideals alive here.