King Gizzard’s Drummer Steps Into the Light on His Own Terms

Michael Cavanagh — the man behind the kit for King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard — has spent years holding down the rhythmic center of one of rock’s most relentlessly inventive bands. On Sojourn, his second solo album, he steps all the way out front. And he does it without a single word.

“First Light” is the latest preview of the record, out April 24 on p(doom), and it does exactly what the title promises — something slow and luminous opening up, the kind of early morning stillness that feels almost too vivid to be real. Where King Gizzard thrives on propulsion and chaos, CAVS here is patient, atmospheric, rooted in the spiritual jazz and Krautrock that clearly runs deep in his listening life.

Cavanagh built Sojourn from the ground up despite not playing pitched instruments, constructing early demos from sampled bass, drums, and synthesizers before bringing in a stellar cast of Melbourne collaborators: Jim Rindfleish (Mildlife) on co-arrangement, Adam Halliwell on flute and guitar, Siwei Wong on harp, Archibald Pommelhorse on saxophone, and King Gizzard bandmate Joey Walker on bass. Sessions mixed structured takes with free improvisation, then were edited down into something that feels cohesive and alive.

The lineage is clear — Herbie Hancock, Alice Coltrane, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham — but Sojourn never sounds like homework. It sounds like someone who has been listening hard for a long time finally saying something of his own. Pre-order it below.

Pre-order Sojourn ↗

1“Victoria Amazonica”

2“Emerald Nile”

3“First Light”

4“Silk Road”

5“Boitatá”

6“Death Bat”

7“Paititi”

8“Candiru”

9“The Seeker”

10“The Keeper”