Much more than a simple “unplugged” version of ‘The Mars Volta’ – the bands self titled seventh album and return as a band – this acoustic rendition furthers the mission of the source music, which drew into sharper focus the traditional Latin influences that have always inspired Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala. This is, says Rodríguez- López, The Mars Volta’s version of a “folk record”, tracing the melodies and rhythms of the parent album back to their traditional Caribbean roots and challenging listeners to hear the group in an entirely new light. The upcoming new album isn’t simply more content, but a bold, radical, political album, and one that recontextualizes the music of the group’s powerful last album within the lineage of the Latin and Caribbean sounds tha...
