Hear and watch an accompanying visual for ‘Blacklight Shine’ now.
Canonised American prog rock troubadours The Mars Volta have signalled their long-awaited return with the release of a new single.
‘Blacklight Shine’ emerges on the heels of a cryptic social media campaign that led fans to a pop-up art installation in Los Angeles comprising a large black cube that would play an audio extract when entered. The song marks the group’s first new music to release under the banner in a decade, succeeding the release of their 2012 album Nocturniquet and subsequent breakup.
In the years following The Mars Volta’s dissolution core members Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala devoted their time to a number of different projects, from resurrecting their similarly influential post-hardcore outfit At The Drive-In to forming Antemasque together with Flea and Dave Elitch and separately pursuing respective endeavours in Bosnian Rainbows and Zavalaz.
Meanwhile the reformation of The Mars Volta has a remained a subject of considerable speculation since 2012 with Bixler-Zavala speaking to the topic and fanning flames from time to time. Discussing the group’s future in 2019 the vocalist explained in a series of tweets
“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. Just remember our past campaigns never relied on playing requests or going fully backwards… It’s new shit, new people, left turns, tangent inconsistencies, mazapan dreams and churro wishes.
I will say this though, when ORL played me a grip of new shit I fucking cried. Like Claire Daines in Romeo & Juliet cried. Yeah it was fucking weird.
It’s in its infancy right now. No deadlines, no ball tripping, no drama, just 2 grown ass men using essential oils and bold new perfumes shooting ideas and scooting their ass across the fucking lawn trying to get rid of these worms.”
Last year The Mars Volta embarked upon a career-spanning reissue campaign in collaboration with Clouds Hill Group, first releasing their entire discography as a limited 18-LP box set before subsequently making each of their albums available to purchase individually on coloured vinyl.
An intoxicating and groove-focused return, hear and watch an accompanying visual for The Mars Volta’s ‘Blacklight Shine’ below.
Words by Sam Wilkinson.
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Fruit and Grooves Collective 