The Mars Volta announce first album in a decade

The Mars Volta have announced the release of their first album since 2012's Noctourniquet. The new, self-titled collection will be released on September 16.

The band have also released a video for Vigil, the third single to be taken from the album. An uplifting mix of pop melody and sonic weirdness, with the introduction of frenetic drums in as the song progresses giving it a sense of uneasy claustrophobia, Vigil follows in the footsteps of Graveyard Love last month and Blacklight Shine in June.

A statement that accompanies news of the album's release says, "The new album shakes loose some of band’s long-standing shibboleths, with only two tracks lasting longer than four minutes, and the dizzying, abrasive prog stylings of earlier albums absent.

"The Mars Volta pulses with subtle brilliance, Caribbean rhythms underpinning sophisticated, turbulent song craft. This is guitarist/composer Omar Rodríguez-López and singer/lyricist Cedric Bixler-Zavala at their most mature, most concise, most focused. Their sound and fury channeled to greatest effect."

The Mars Volta is available to pre-order on CD and vinyl, with a "kinetic edition" featuring an embossed, gold foiled outer sleeve available from the Clouds Hill website. The digital editions will be available in spatial audio and Dolby Atmos. A number of bundles are also available, some of which include a "Volta Cube".

The Mars Volta: The Mars Volta tracklist

1. Blacklight Shine
2. Graveyard Love
3. Shore Story
4. Blank Condolences
5. Vigil
6. Qué Dios Te Maldiga Mí Corazón
7. Cerulea
8. Flash Burns From Flashbacks
9. Palm Full Of Crux
10. No Case Gain
11. Tourmaline
12. Equus 3
13. Collapsible Shoulders
14. The Requisition

The Mars Volta Tour 2022

Sep 23: Dallas The Factory, TX
Sep 25: Atlanta The Tabernacle, GA
Sep 27: Philadelphia Opera House, PA
Sep 29: New York Terminal 5, N.Y.
Oct 01: Boston MGM Music Hall, MA
Oct 03: Washington The Anthem, D.C.
Oct 05: Toronto Massey Hall, ON
Oct 06: Detroit The Royal Oak, MI
Oct 08: Chicago Aragon Ballroom, IL
Oct 11: Denver Mission Ballroom, CO
Oct 14: Seattle Moore Theatre, WA
Oct 18: San Francisco The Warfield, CA
Oct 21: Los Angeles The Palladium, CA

Tickets go on sale on June 22.

The Mars Volta cover art — (Image credit: Clouds Hill)

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.