The Mars Volta are back with their first new material in a decade.
Coming in at a whopping 11 minutes, the track ‘Blacklight Shine’ is the first new music from former At The Drive-In members Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez since 2012’s Nocturniquet and their subsequent breakup.
Heavily influenced by Latin music, Bixler-Zavala sings in Spanish over a percussion that gives the same vibes as Santana’s earlier work, as well as some of the material from Noctourniquet and the preceding Octahderon.
It is accompanied by a music video in the form of a short film.
The duo spent the two days leading up to the release teasing their return with an art installation in Los Angeles.
NME reported the band had set up a mysterious box in LA’s Grand Park, which played music when you walked inside.
Nicknamed “Voltacube,” it played previously unheard audio in an immersive AV experience. The band called it “L’ytome Hodorxí Telesterio” in a tweet, sharing the co-ordinates and times.
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https://twitter.com/themarsvolta/status/1538617274160279552?s=20
One Reddit user who experienced the “Voltacube” said it was “pretty neat.”
“Song is indeed Khruangbin and Santana-esque,” reported TheDaftAlex. “Spanish lyrics, emphasis on conga/bongos over traditional drums. Kinda poppy too. More psychedelic than prog. Wish it was louder though, I really had to open my ears to analyse it. It’s a bop though, can’t wait for the release.”
The Mars Volta released six studio albums between 2003 and 2012, before splitting in 2013 when Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez had a falling out.
They quickly made amends and formed a new band, Antemasque, and revamped their pre-Mars Volta outfit, At-the-Drive-In, for a new album in 2017.
A Mars Volta reunion has been on the cards for some time, with vocalist Bixler-Zavala all but confirming the news in response to a fan: “It’s happening.”
In since-deleted tweets, the vocalist added: “What it’s NOT going to be is your ‘fav member lineup’ playing their ‘classic records’ in full etc. Maybe we’ll play old shit, who knows how we feel. … It’s new shit, new people, left turns, tangent inconsistencies, mazapan [sic] dreams and churro wishes.”
The duo unveiled an epic 18-LP vinyl box set last year, but until now had not released any new material.
Watch ‘Blacklight Shine’ by The Mars Volta:
