Song history written by TimelandIsWacky
In the world of aviation, the deadstick landing is one of those maneuvers that no pilot wishes to handle. A deadstick landing, or volplaining, is a type of forced emergency landing where a plane loses all of its engine power and must be glided carefully towards touchdown (there’s a common misconception that the term refers to the control stick going out). Piloting an aircraft descending thousands of feet to safety is no easy task as a pilot has to deal with a number of issues like finding a place to land, or even guessing airspeed after systems have failed completely. It’s a moment that requires full concentration, and those who manage to make it can become heroes, such as in the case of “Sully” Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles, who landed an Airbus in the Hudson River with no fatalities.
Gizzard details this terrifying maneuver through three different perspectives on “Deadstick.” Stu kicks it off by describing a pilot who thinks of his family and all the places he’s been as his plane plummets downwards. Joey follows this up with a passage about a man who sees a shadowy figure talking to him, stating that they are his child and that he is their mother. While the man denies it, the figure tells him he’s wrong and implores him to follow them on a journey. Joey’s section ends with the ominous line “the phantom has taken everything,” seeming to imply that this ghostly figure is behind the plane’s failure. Ambrose’s verses cut back to the plane’s cockpit with everyone praying for safety and trying to receive help. Despite the odds, all three people survive the crash landing.
The song is reminiscent of Flight b741 material with its aviation-themed lyricism and rowdy rock energy, but is differentiated through its prominent horn arrangement reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen and the E. Street Band tunes like “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out.” It also features standout vocal performances from its three singers.
“Deadstick” was initially planned to be included on Flight b741 due to it being a “high-energy, fast-paced, more of the punch-in-the-gut kind of thing” but didn’t make the cut as Chad Kelly was interested in arranging for it. In an interview with SPIN Stu said “He was so hyped on that one… It totally could have lived on that album, but Chad was like, no, I can really hear this one.”
The band first mentioned “Deadstick” on the extended mix of “Extinction” with the line “mirage city on the ridge, Beowulf, can you land deadstick?” The title was later used as a presale code for the San Francisco rave show on 2024-11-06.
Every member of the band wrote and performed “Deadstick”: Ambrose (piano/vocals), Cavs (drums/percussion), Cook (organ), Joey (guitar/vocals), Lucas (bass), and Stu (guitar/Mellotron/vocals). The horn section consisted of Tim Wilson (saxophone), Lachlan Davidson (saxophone), Phil Noy (saxophone), Patrick McMullin (trumpet), Daniel Beasy (trumpet), Shane Hooton (trumpet), Chris Vizard (trombone), James Bowman (trombone), and Joe O’Callaghan (trombone).
The song was leaked on March 20th, 2025, sparking much discussion within the fanbase.
Production on “Deadstick”’s music video can be traced as far back as February 4th, 2025 when director Guy Tyzack made an Instagram story asking if anyone owned property with a steep hill near Melbourne that he could use for filming. The story shows a still from the 1971 film The Decameron as an example, saying he was “bootlegging inspiration” from the shot. Days later on the 7th he made another Instagram story asking if anyone had brass instruments he could borrow for Friday. The band would film the music video on the 14th and post a clip of the shoot from afar with a fart rendition of Fučík’s “Entrance of the Gladiators.” Tyzack would also share a photo of Lilgerbs on set smoking with a saxophone in his hand. Gizzard teased the video again on March 24th, showing a photo of Ambrose in his aviator jumpsuit with wounds all over his body. In a strange turn of events, the music video was accidentally leaked on April 8th when it was uploaded to YouTube and set to public. It was deleted shortly after its upload though fans had already grabbed recordings of it. The band commented on the leaks during its eventual premiere while Stu said he “had opinions” on the song’s multiple leaks during the 2025 Reddit AMA. A day after the music video leak the band confirmed their next album Phantom Island and said that “Deadstick” would be released alongside pre-orders for the album on April 15th. Several more video teasers were posted on April 14th alongside pre-order info for Phantom Island.
As promised, the official release of “Deadstick” came on April 15th alongside a single release featuring “Phantom Island” as a digital b-side. The video shows the band in their Flight b741 aviator jumpsuits performing the song at a cliffside (in Sunburg, Victoria) where their plane has crashed. They’re joined by the plane’s passengers including three brass players, a bodybuilder, and two people in black cloaks. Interspersed with the performance footage are black and white shots of Ambrose bloodied and bruised on Sandridge Beach after a crash landing, as well as footage of seagulls and pigeons which could be seen as a callback to “Rats In The Sky.” It ends with everyone lining up and walking into the distance with Stu and Ambrose carrying the plane’s rudder.
The video was a massive effort with prosthetics, costumes, and multiple film formats. Tyzack said of the video “I started off wanting to create a frame that looked like a landscape painting with many different people and set pieces dotted about. Deadstick refers to when a plane propeller stops mid flight so I decided to have a massive plane made out of cardboard crash land into a beautiful location. The song is big and chaotic so then I went about casting swing dancers and eccentric extras to fill the landscape.” While Guy Tyzack came up with the idea for the video, Ambrose helped direct the beach scenes. The cardboard plane was built by Boxwars, who had previously worked with the band on the music video for “People-Vultures” to create the titular beast. According to Tyzack they built it in a little over a week. After the shoot the band took the plane back to their headquarters and took photos of Phantom Island with it. Ambrose is also seen jumping around on its remnants in an Instagram video.
Various behind the scenes photos were shared by both King Gizzard and Guy Tyzack. Interestingly, one photo shows an artist with a blue jacket and black beret painting something on an easel. While the artist can be seen as everyone lines up and walks away (as well as in storyboards), they aren’t seen anywhere else in the video, nor is the easel and the painting. It’s unclear what their purpose in “Deadstick” was though it may tie into Tyzack’s concept of the video being a “landscape painting.”
“Deadstick” saw a final release on Phantom Island on June 13th. The album cover shows the wooden airplane from Flight b741 after what appears to be a deadstick landing.
“Deadstick” has not been played live.
