Apart from ACL and SXSW, April 26-28 might now be one of the biggest weekends on the Austin music calendar., he uses only two words: love and pain. The thesis sounds simple enough – until you realize it encapsulates the entirety of the human condition. The Los Angeles trio usually hangs in the pocket of“The whole idea was to try to get a hi-fi, big sounding album,” Arévalo says.
Guitarist Arévalo, bassist Eduardo Arenas, and singer Bardo Martinez ignored modern conventions, tapping producer John Congleton not for playlist-ready singles, but a cohesive, filled with ballads and bops in equal measure. “Maybe it’s outdated,” Arévalo says of the approach, “but we felt like it was effective for our artistic statement.”
Slower moments like “Era Primavera” and “Fairytale Love” utilize cinematic strings, an addition Arévalo says his bandmates pitched. He came up with the project’s more upbeat tracks, including sensual lead single “Fly” and groovy opener “Live Today.” The latter song’s chilled-out advice (“– notably, Chicano Batman’s first post-pandemic release.
“We all went through loss during COVID,” Arévalo shares. “We had family members pass away.” Zooming out, he adds, “These are very divisive, hateful times we live in, if you let it get to you in that way. So how do you overcome it?” “Just like Bob Marley always said, it’s just about one love,” he answers. “So that’s what the music’s about. Just trying to get to the essence of humanity.”Crosstalk: Music Returns to Cosmic Coffee, the Golden Horn Replaces Burger Tex, and More Culture Newshas been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene.