New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Chicano Batman's highly anticipated new album 'Invisible People' is out today via ATO Records. The album channels the kinetic spirit of Los Angeles into a wildly shapeshifting sound, ultimately finding an unstoppable joy in following Chicano Batman's most outrageous instincts. While 'Invisible People' mines inspiration from krautrock acts like Can and Neu! and the Nigerian synth-funk of
William Onyeabor, it also embodies elements of hip-hop and R&B - specially in its endless barrage of addictive hooks and hard-hitting beats.
To celebrate its release, the band performed for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's #playathome series.
"This album is an evolution from our last one in that we put much more thought in our approach to the songwriting and production before hitting record," guitarist of Chicano Batman
Carlos Arévalo says. "We went in with a plan that helped guide the musical direction. We demoed songs for over a year before going into the studio as well. In the past, we'd pool some songs together, rehearse them for a few weeks and go in and simply record them. This time we had a much more elaborate MO; replace organs with synthesizers, make the guitars funkier, and have the drums and bass play beats that make your head bob up and down.
For the album, the band worked with Shawn Everett, the GRAMMY-award winning mixing engineer known for his work with
Alabama Shakes, War on Drugs, Kacey Musgraves, and Julian Casablancas. With Leon Michels' (Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Lee Fields & The Expressions) producing and Everett's mixing steering the record's direction, the band's lush sound has become a more pointed, densely layered soundscape. 'Invisible People' is an illuminating and encapsulating listen, one that hasn't lost the essence that put Chicano Batman on the map and makes a stirring point about the times we're living in.
Consequence of Sound says the band's most recent single "Blank Slate" has a "sultry funky rhythm."
Listen: https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/04/chicano-batman-origins-blank-slate-stream/
FADER calls "Pink Elephant" a "supremely groovy punchbowl anthem" while Billboardpraises its "warm, funk-damning vignettes."
Listen: https://www.thefader.com/2020/03/31/chicano-batman-pink-elephant-video-premiere
The album's lead track "Color my life" was lauded by Rolling Stone as a "tropicalia-infused thesis on a utopian world where factors like race, gender and class do not preclude the potential for human connection and solidarity" and garnered support from Rivers Cuomo and Danger Mouse. It debuted at # 3 on KCRW's Top
Music Charts and is featured on Spotify's "Ultimate Indie" and "
Good Vibes" playlists.
Listen: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/chicano-batman-new-album-invisible-people-2020-tour-957558/
PRAISE FOR CHICANO BATMAN:
"retro-tinged resistance funk" - ROLLING STONE
"a pitch-perfect voice of the resistance" - BILLBOARD
"a deeper dimension of sly pop culture references, unapologetic Latin pride, and the thoughtful exploration of popular music's all pervasive black roots" - NOISEY
"laid-back lounge grooves and a funky swagger" - NPR
"a cross of
Tame Impala and Neon Indian...shape their tropicalia-bent indie rock into a glossier pop-style." - CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND
"You need to know Chicano Batman...with their combination of soul, pop, tropicalia and psych" - THE GUARDIAN
"perfect musical accompaniment for summer cruisin'" - AV CLUB
"supremely groovy" - FADER
'Invisible People' Tracklisting:
1.
Color my life
2. Blank Slate
3. I Know It
4. Invisible People
5. Manuel's Story
6. Moment of Joy
7. Pink Elephant
8. Polymetronomic Harmony
9. The Way
10. The Prophet
11. Bella
12. Wounds
Like all the most iconic music born from the West Coast, Chicano Batman's 'Invisible People' offers an instant escape into the beautifully strange world they inhabit. Throughout their fourth album, vocalist/keyboardist Bardo Martinez, guitarist
Carlos Arévalo, bassist Eduardo Arenas, and drummer Gabriel Villa channel the kinetic spirit of their city into a wildly shapeshifting sound, ultimately finding an unstoppable joy in following their most outrageous instincts. Produced by Leon Michels (The Carters, A$AP Rocky, Lee Fields & the Expressions) and mixed by Shawn Everett (Vampire Weekend,
Alabama Shakes, Beck), 'Invisible People' taps into the unbridled creativity Chicano Batman previously brought to their 2009 self-titled debut, 2014's 'Cycles Of Existential Rhyme,' and 2017's 'Freedom Is Free' (their first release since signing to ATO Records). But as evidenced on songs like lead single "Color My Life" and on the album's emotionally raw title track (whose lyrics examine race as a scientific fallacy), 'Invisible People' embodies elements of everything from krautrock to hip-hop—all while capturing the powerful energy the band's shown in touring with artists like
Alabama Shakes, Portugal The Man, and Jack White. The result is Chicano Batman's most imaginative body of work yet, a collection of songs that could only come from their own idiosyncratic minds.
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