Note: this page is not yet finished due to the developing nature of this album cycle.

If you look at old maps, especially those older than the 1900s, you may notice a number of islands that don’t exist. These are called phantom islands. Some are noted due to miscommunications between cartographers and explorers as with Pepys Island, some like Antillia were spawned from ancient legend and others like Croker Land were made up for fame and fortune. Whatever the case may be, these islands have been the fascination for explorers and historians alike, and King Gizzard dedicated a song to these odd footnotes.
“Phantom Island” was the first single from the band’s twenty-seventh album and the first to utilize an orchestra. The lyrics (sung by Stu, Cook and Ambrose) speak of someone who sees an island in their dreams and decides to travel there. They believe that their journey could be their destiny however they also believe they’re losing their sanity as they embark towards the imagined destination; hearing laughter in the trees and hyper analyzing the world around them. They seem to find the island they were seeking after twelve years of searching but their paranoia gets the best of them as they envision mythological gods and creatures watching over the land, leading the explorer to retreat.
The song ties back into the band’s previous album Flight b741 by continuing the album’s horse imagery, while they also reuse the phrase “cut the cord” and mention the Egyptian god Set, both featured prominently on The Silver Cord. It also mentions Typhon, a monster from Greek mythology who has sometimes been compared to Set despite differences in story and appearance. Besides these references, the story has similarities to “The Last Oasis,” “Magenta Mountain” and “Mirage City.”

“Phantom Island” was first heard when it was released as a single on October 29th, 2024. It was dropped alongside the announcement of their then incomplete twenty-seventh album, the Field of Vision festival and the band’s 2025 Phantom Island US Tour. The phrase “coconut congas” heard in the lyrics was used as a pre-sale code for said tour.
The first hint of the track on stage occurred during a performance of “Boogieman Sam” at the Arizona Financial Theatre on 2024-11-09. Ambrose’s verse was quoted during a “People-Vultures” jam at the end of the song.