The Mars Volta Returns: Stream “Blacklight Shine,” Band’s First New Music In Over a Decade; Tour Dates

On Tuesday, The Mars Volta — the consistently genre-defying musical project helmed by guitarist/composer Omar Rodríguez-López and singer/lyricist Cedric Bixler-Zavala burst forth from an extended silence with its first new music since 2012’s Noctourniquet album.

Titled “Blacklight Shine,” this new song reaches back to the musicians’ influences, fusing the adventurous composition with Caribbean rhythms and Bixler-Zavala’s soaring vocals:

There’s also an 11-minute short film video for the track:

Accompanying the intriguing new song is a batch of tour dates for The Mars Volta, which will take place this fall with special guest Teri Gender Bender (of Le Butcherettes and Rodríguez-López’s project Bosnian Rainbows):

THE MARS VOLTA TOUR 2022

Presale starts Wednesday, 6/22 10am local time. Public onsale Friday, 6/24 10am local time.https://t.co/cv15fd8ktd pic.twitter.com/y4SqnFmggG

— THE MARS VOLTA (@themarsvolta) June 21, 2022

September 23 – The Factory in Deep Ellum – Dallas, TX
September 25 – Tabernacle – Atlanta, GA
September 27 – The Metropolitan Opera House – Philadelphia, PA
September 29 – Terminal 5 – New York, NY
October 1 – MGM Music Hall at Fenway – Boston, MA
October 3 – The Anthem – Washington, DC
October 5 – Massey Hall – Toronto, ON
October 6 – Royal Oak Music Theatre – Detroit, MI
October 8 – Aragon Ballroom – Chicago, IL
October 11 – The Mission Ballroom – Denver, CO
October 14 – Moore Theatre – Seattle, WA
October 18 – The Warfield – San Francisco, CA
October 21 – Hollywood Palladium – Los Angeles, CA

Stay tuned — who knows what else The Mars Volta has in store in the months ahead. To date, the band has released six studio albums, beginning with 2003’s De-Loused in the Comatorium, which formed in the wake of the breakup of Rodríguez-López and Bixler-Zavala’s previous band, At the Drive-In (which has since reformed, released albums and toured).