The Mars Volta Have Announced A Revamped Version Of Their Upcoming Comeback Album

The Mars Volta will reissue their self-titled reunion record from last year. Que Dios Te Maldiga Me Corazon is set to be released on April 21, seven months after The Mars Volta. After giving over the master tapes to The Martian Volt, guitarist Omar Rodrguez-López began work on the new version of the album. With the record’s release postponed until the band was unable to tour again, he traveled to Puerto Rico to begin production on a “folk” album.

“it was a fun process,” says Rodríguez-López. “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.”

Rodrguez-López rearranged the songs, putting them to traditional Caribbean rhythms and accentuating the latin influences that have always influenced the band’s sound.  He also claims that the ensuing Que Dios Te Maldiga Me Corazon should not be considered “race music,” but rather “traditional music” from a Puerto Rican standpoint.

“I realised I could finally make a record like this now, I just had to make it happen,” he says. “That was the experiment. And 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.”

Que Dios Te Maldiga Mi Corazon tracklist

1. Blacklight Shine (acoustic)

2. Graveyard Love (acoustic)

3. Shore Story (acoustic)

4. Blank Condolences (acoustic)

5. Vigil (acoustic)

6. Que Dios Te Maldiga Mi Carazon (acoustic)

7. Cerulea (acoustic)

8. Flash Burns From Flashbacks (acoustic)

9. Palm Full Of Crux (acoustic)

10. NoCaseGain (acoustic)

11. Tourmaline (acoustic)

12. Equus 3 (acoustic)

13. Collapsible Shoulders (acoustic)

14. The Requisition (acoustic)