The Mars Volta on going “pop” and those Kanye West rumours

nme.com:

The Mars Volta have spoke to NME about their new “pop” album  and the rumours of them working with Kanye West.Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodríguez-López released their new self-titled album as The Mars Volta today (September 16) – a record that draws influence from the likes of Van Morrison, Slade, David Bowie’s later work and Peter Gabriel. “It’s safe to say we’ve made a pop album,” explained Bixler-Zavala.“It’s there in the name, Volta,” he continued. “It’s almost like a warning to people: don’t get too comfortable with your favourite era because by the time you like it, we’re already moving on.

That’s just a natural progression of someone that is very selfish with art. Our actual fans understand that the unspoken truth is to just let us do what we do.

And that there really is no room for requests.”He went on: “Peter Gabriel’s solo stuff has always been progressive and direct about the emotions he’s talking about, so he’s a strong, obvious choice to pull from”.Admitting that they considered reaching out to Gabriel to feature on the album, Bixler-Zavala came to realise: “Once I listened to everything though, I realised we didn’t need a co-sign.”Bixler-Zavala also said that the band had been inspired by Rosalía’s ‘Bizcochito’. “I wasn’t listening to it while we were making the album, but it’s affecting me now,” he said. “It’s affecting how I approach the music in rehearsals.”Despite the pop influences, Bixler-Zavala told Rodríguez-López he wanted The Mars Volta to return with a heavy album. “Anybody else would have thought ‘OK, let’s turn down and make our version of a Black Sabbath record’ but it’s definitely not that,” explained Bixler-Zavala. “It’s heavy in terms of what you feel.”He recently played the album to.