21 April 2023

Band: THE MARS VOLTA
Who: Former At The Drive-In members
Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
Active: 2001 present / 6 LPs so far

Last September they released their critically praised self-titled comeback album.

The experimental prog-rock duo stripped that album down to the bone afterward
and recorded an acoustic version of all songs. They named the collection QUE DIOS
TE MALDIGA MI CORAZON (May God Damn Your Heart). Order info here.

Artwork

Rodríguez-López (guitarist, producer): “It was a fun process. And it made me think about the history of record music in the United States. There was ‘traditional music’, which became ‘Americana’, or country music. And the other genre was ‘race music’, which was exactly what it sounds like: music made by anyone who was an ‘immigrant’, mostly meaning black people. So that means everything that wasn’t ‘country’. In other words, all the interesting shit: r&b, blues, rock’n’roll, electronic music… It says a lot about this country. It was super-fun. I feel like The Mars Volta is finally beginning – that’s why the last album was self- titled, because we’ve finally stripped everything away and arrived at what the whole concept was at the beginning. And this acoustic version comes from a profound place, with its own meaning and philosophy, and its own reason for being.”

TUTV: Imagine Bixler-Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez playing late at night in a cozy small bar with dimmed lights and cigarette smoke floating around playing on a tiny stage seated on barstools.

Stream it here.

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The 2022 electric album.

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THE MARS VOLTA: Facebook – Instagram