Omar Rodríguez-López likes to keep himself busy. He’s released an LP with The Mars Volta, dropped two solo albums, lent his production talent to Juliette Lewis’ new band, and collaborated with Hella drummer Zach Hill all just this year. His latest effort finds him both singing and writing lyrics, in addition to the usual guitar playing and composing. Entitled Xenophanes, the album tells the story of a woman who falls in love with a man who dies shortly after, with the woman then going on to explore life in a bunch of different ways, causing her soul to evolve and allowing her to come to some sort of major epiphany regarding her former lover. As the press release more eloquently puts it:
Xenophanes is a triumph of imagination and an inspired, concise statement. A conceptual journey through life, death, and re-birth, the album tells the story of a selfish and judgmental female caseworker who falls in love with a male client, only for him to die soon thereafter. Over the course of eleven subsequent lifetimes, the woman experiences life from every conceivable vantage point as her soul evolves, thereby allowing the maturity and eventual letting-go of her ego which in turn enables the realization that the man was, and always has been, her father spirit.
Mars Volta members Juan Alderete de la Peña, Thomas Pridgen, and Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez are featured on the album, with jazz keyboardist Mark Aanderud and vocalist Ximena Sariñana lending additional work as well. Keep an eye out for Xenophanes this September.
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so as an avid music fan and lover of anything mars volta/omar related I am excited to hear about this, but it begs the question… where did you get this info? Just curious, great info thanks!