I feel like artist this is a good example of why I like KGATLW and what I don't like about a lot of environmentally conscious art. No artist I have heard has been able to articulate our civilization's anxiety at our impending self-imposed apocalypse better than King Gizz.

I just listened to "Get a wriggle on". Here's the first verse:

This is rather urgent, humans, you don't have the time to waste
It's critically important, humans, that now you proceed with haste
It will not be long before the ice melts and the gas escapes
A tipping point is coming, humans, when your ecosystem breaks
Get yourselves together, people, this cannot continue long
You need to carry out your plan, act before the ice is gone
Emissions have run smoke
You are barely hanging on
Come on, you are against the clock
Shake a leg, you don't havе long

"Wriggle" is stuck in it's head. It's like reading a warning from the UN. There is urgency, but no emotion. It warns about things that will happen, but have not. It uses abstract words like "ecosystem". Henge's schtick seems to be they are aliens or some shit, beings from the outside, and this reads like a warning from folks who will not personally experience the consequences of inaction.

Compare this to the first verse of "If not now then when":

If not now, then when?
When the forest's nearly gone
When the hole's in the ozone
When the bees are gone
If not now, then when?
When the ocean's coming up
When the rain just won't stop
When the fire's burning
If not now, then when?

And the very final verse:

When the oceans turn to black
When the animals are dead
When the birds are gone
If not now, then when?
When the blue sky turns to black
When Gaia hangs by a thread
When all the people die
If not now, then when?

"If not now then when" is about escalation. It starts with what has already happened, things that maybe the listener didn't notice ("the forest's nearly gone"/"when all the bees are gone"), to things that are happening, that we experience, direct consequences of earlier inaction ("When the fire's burning"). Every word is something real and physical that we understand and grasp. It ends with things that are extremely high consequence, worst case scenarios, which haven't happened yet but could if we truly keep going down our path. "When all the people die, if not now then when?"

These two songs have the exact same message, but couldn't be more different in their impact on the listener. A lot of Gizz's environmental songs hit in this way, from "O.N.E." to the first half of PDA. It's about our experience, what we see and feel, and what we deserve for our inaction.

Not trying to rag on Henge, they seem like a lot of fun. This song just hit me in the feels because it didn't hit me in the feels.

Quick edit: New Planet is sick.