The Silver Cord (King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard album)

On 7 May 2023, the band announced their 24th studio album, PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation via Instagram.[4] According to bassist Lucas Harwood, that album would be one of two upcoming albums that would have a "Yin and Yang" concept, stating that they are "going to be very different sounding to each other, but we're going to try to make them complement each other".[5] This recording was made with synthesizers and analogue recording equipment.[6]

On 12 September, band member Joey Walker stated that the follow up to PetroDragonic Apocalypse is "definitely synth-y", with Spin writer Jonathan Cohen drawing comparisons to Butterfly 3000. "You could draw comparisons in many ways, but just in the nature of us being in the same room and playing and writing together, it's vastly different than Butterfly."[7] On 27 September, the album was officially announced via their Instagram account, set to be released on 27 October, with preorders happening on 12 October.[8] For the 1LP version the preorders came in "Capybara Baby", "Crystal Ball", "Flying Spirit" and "Quantum Foam" editions, while the 2LP versions came in "Ancient Light", "Shadow on the Moon", "Scorching Sands" and "Rain of Sorrow" editions, all on their US, AU and EU stores, respectively. On 3 October, the first three tracks from the album were released as one single: the standard length versions of "Theia", "The Silver Cord" and "Set".[1]

All tracks are in two formats: standard and extended editions, with the latter having longer run times. Vinyl release for standard edition have tracks 1–4 on side A, and tracks 5–7 on side B. Extended vinyl release have track 1 on side A, tracks 2–3 on side B, tracks 4–5 on side C, and tracks 6–7 on side D.

1. "Theia"  – 3:24 [Extended Mix – 20:41]
2. "The Silver Cord"  – 4:20 [Extended Mix – 12:45]
3. "Set"  – 3:56 [Extended Mix – 10:18]
4. "Chang'e"  – 3:46 [Extended Mix – 10:46]
5. "Gilgamesh"  – 3:43 [Extended Mix – 11:16]
6. "Swan Song"  – 4:25 [Extended Mix – 10:29]
7. "Extinction"  – 4:40 [Extended Mix – 12:29]

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard

• Ambrose Kenny-Smith – vocals, synthesisers (Yamaha DX7, Moog Grandmother, Roland JX-3P), Mellotron
• Michael Cavanagh – electronic drums (Simmons Drum Synthesiser, Roland TD50X)
• Cook Craig – synthesisers (Roland Juno-X, Korg Poly-61, Yamaha DX7), guitar synthesiser (Casio DG-10), effects (Boss DD-7, EarthQuaker Devices Rainbow Machine, Strymon BlueSky)
• Joey Walker – vocals, loops (Roland RC-505), sequencer (Arturia Keystep Pro), drum machine (Roland TR-8), modular synthesiser (Mutable Instruments Plaits, Intellijel Quadrax, Happy Nerding FX Aid, Intellijel Metropolis, Befaco Hexmix, Intellijel Bifold, Make Noise Mimeophon, Make Noise Maths, Mutable Instruments Rings, Doepfer A-182-1 Switched Multiples, WMD Geiger Counter, Intellijel Quad VCA, ALM Pamela’s New Workout, Joranalogue Filter 8, Noise Engineering Basimilus Iteritas Alter, Music Thing Turing Machine, Eowave Quadrantid Swarm, XAOC Devices Belgrad Dual Peak Filter, Mutable Instruments Ripples, Instruo Cs-L Complex Oscillator)
• Lucas Harwood – synthesisers (Moog Matriarch, Moog Sub 37, Yamaha Reface DX, Roland SH-01A)
• Stu Mackenzie – vocals, synthesisers (Roland Juno-60, Casio SK-5, Moog Matriarch, Roland Juno-X), guitar synthesiser (Casio DG-10), Ableton Push 2, Mellotron, drum machine (Roland TR-808), piano, effects (Boss ME-50, Boss DD-3, EarthQuaker Devices Rainbow Machine, Strymon BlueSky, Dunlop Cry Baby)