Flight b741

Flight b741 is the 26th studio album by Australian psychedelic rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, released on 9 August 2024. The album was announced on 1 July and was made available for pre-order eight days later. This album marks a return to the band's blues rock and boogie sound. Flight b741 is the first King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard record to be released on their new label, P(doom) Records.

Flight b741
Studio album by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
Released	9 August 2024 (2024-08-09)
Genre	Blues rock
Length	43:06
Label	p(doom)
Producer	Stu Mackenzie
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard chronology
The Silver Cord (2023) Flight b741 (2024)
Singles from Flight b741
"Le Risque" Released: 9 July 2024 "Hog Calling Contest" Released: 23 July 2024 "Field of Vision" Released: 6 August 2024 "Raw Feel / Flight b741" Released: 14 September 2024

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.2/10
Metacritic	76/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
DIY
Far Out
The Guardian
Record Collector
Under the Radar	8.5/10

At the 2024 ARIA Music Awards, the album was nominated for Best Rock Album.

Background

On 27 October 2023, when the band released their 25th studio album, The Silver Cord, they posted a thank you post via Instagram while teasing another record. On 6 May 2024, the band announced their new label, p(doom) Records, which they named after the concept of P(doom) in artificial intelligence. During the European leg of the band's World Tour 2024, multiple songs from Flight b741 would be debuted a month before the album's announcement.

The album was based on jam sessions and sees the band incorporating a blues rock style reminiscent of their sound on 2019's Fishing for Fishies. Lead vocalist Stu Mackenzie said about the record: "We're having a lot of fun, but we're often singing about some pretty heavy shit," Mackenzie adds, "and probably hitting on some deeper, more universal themes than usual. It's not a sci-fi record, it's about life and stuff. But the record is like a really fun weekend with your mates, you know? Like, proper fun."

Mackenzie also stated:

This is our most collaborative record – the collaboration was occurring in the room, it was free, and everyone was bringing in songs and ideas. And we wanted to have as many lead vocalists as we could, and to pass the mic, like, 'This is my part, my idea, I'm gonna sing it and then I'm gonna pass the mic along to you and you can do your thing'. The whole record is built around that.

On October 29, 2024, the band made a surprise announcement of a new single, "Phantom Island". In the announcement, the band noted that the Flight b741 recording sessions had actually resulted in the creation of twenty songs, with only the first ten included on Flight b741 itself. The remaining ten were recorded with a full orchestra and announced to be their own album.

Album cover

The album cover for Flight b741 was designed by Jason Galea and features a wooden airplane piloted by eight pigs. According to an Instagram post by Galea, the airplane is a model, and the pigs were meticulously crafted from clay.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Michael Cavanagh, Cook Craig, Lucas Harwood, Ambrose Kenny-Smith, Stu Mackenzie, and Joey Walker, except where noted

Flight b741 track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocalists	Length
1.	"Mirage City"		Mackenzie Kenny-Smith Walker	4:48
2.	"Antarctica"		Kenny-Smith Craig Mackenzie Harwood	4:32
3.	"Raw Feel"		Walker Kenny-Smith Harwood Craig Mackenzie	4:17
4.	"Field of Vision"		Kenny-Smith Mackenzie Walker	3:35
5.	"Hog Calling Contest"		Mackenzie Kenny-Smith Craig	3:21
6.	"Le Risque"	Cavanagh Craig Kenny-Smith Mackenzie Walker	Walker Cavanagh Kenny-Smith Mackenzie	3:34
7.	"Flight b741"		Harwood Craig Mackenzie Walker	3:58
8.	"Sad Pilot"	Cavanagh Craig Kenny-Smith Mackenzie Walker	Walker Kenny-Smith Mackenzie	4:12
9.	"Rats in the Sky"		Kenny-Smith Craig Mackenzie Walker	3:07
10.	"Daily Blues"		Mackenzie Kenny-Smith Harwood	7:42
Total length:				43:06

Personnel

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard

• Stu Mackenzie – vocals, guitar (all tracks), bass guitar (tracks 3, 4, 6, 8–10), Mellotron (tracks 3, 9), organ (track 3)
• Ambrose Kenny-Smith – vocals (all tracks), harmonica (tracks 1–7, 10), saxophone (tracks 1, 3, 6, 9), piano (tracks 1, 2, 8–10), Mellotron (track 7)
• Joey Walker – vocals (all tracks), guitar (tracks 1–4, 6, 8–10), bass guitar (tracks 5, 7)
• Michael Cavanagh – vocals, drums, percussion (all tracks)
• Cook Craig – vocals (all tracks), organ (tracks 3–8, 10), Mellotron (tracks 1, 7, 9), bass guitar (track 2)
• Lucas Harwood – vocals (all tracks), bass guitar (tracks 1, 3, 4, 9, 10), piano (tracks 3, 5, 7, 10), organ (track 2), electric piano (track 10)

Additional musicians

• Sam Joseph – pedal steel guitar (tracks 1, 5, 7, 10); full band recording

Technical

• Stu Mackenzie – production, engineer, mixing
• Joe Carra – mastering

Artwork

• Jason Galea – artwork, layout, photography
• Maclay Heriot – photography

Charts

Chart performance for Flight b741

Chart (2024)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	8
Scottish Albums (OCC)	66
UK Album Downloads (OCC)	8
UK Albums Sales (OCC)	25
US Billboard 200	118
US Independent Albums (Billboard)	21