Mettavolution available now, hugely anticipated new album is out April 26th. Worldwide tour kicks off in April.
Renowned guitar virtuosos Rodrigo y Gabriela have announced today’s premiere of their visceral new single, “Mettavolution,” the latest song form their eagerly awaited new album of the same name. The band’s fifth studio album arrives everywhere on April 26 via ATO Records.
The duo’s first album in five years, METTAVOLUTION marks the most ambitious music of Rodrigo y Gabriela’s remarkable two-decade career. Three years in the making, the LP embraces the duo’s passionate interest in Buddhism, the history of human evolution and the liberation of the potential we have as a species, all expressed through the medium of two acoustic guitars. Mettavolution? “Metta” is a Sanskrit word for the meditative condition that produces compassion and benevolence. It is a “practical state of mind” as well, according to Gabriela, “something you practice like an instrument to become a better citizen, in a more evolved place.” Conceived and composed in their studio in Ixtapa on the Mexican Pacific Coast, the music of METTAVOLUTION was road-tested around the world on tour in 2017 and 2018 before being recorded late last year in Los Angeles with multiple GRAMMY-winning producer Dave Sardy (Oasis, LCD Soundsystem, A Perfect Circle, Band of Horses) behind the board.
METTAVOLUTION gathers six white-hot new Rodrigo y Gabriela compositions – much of which acknowledge the duo’s thrash-metal roots back in Mexico City – as well as an inspired, side-long cover of Pink Floyd’s sprawling “Echoes” – originally found on 1971’s MEDDLE – audaciously reimagined for two acoustic guitars. Rolling Stone recently hailed the 19-minute epic as a “Song You Need to Know,” noting, “(‘Echoes’) is such a signature song, it’s hard to imagine anyone else doing it justice, yet somehow the Mexican acoustic-rock duo Rodrigo y Gabriela landed on a brilliant interpretation… Like the original, the song is its own journey, and it’s beautiful.” “(Rodrigo y Gabriela) make (‘Echoes’) entirely their own,” wrote NPR Music, “turning the original version’s extended psych-jam and terrifying atmospherics into percussive knocks on their guitars and strings and other strange, tactile effects. It only gets better and more breathtaking the deeper you get into the track.”
With career album sales now in excess of 1.5 million worldwide, Rodrigo y Gabriela have undoubtedly established themselves as the planet’s preeminent acoustic guitar duo, earning international acclaim and a fervent fan following with their awe-inspiring mastery of their instruments as well as a truly distinctive approach to melody, energy, and rhythm.
One of the world’s most in-demand live acts, Rodrigo y Gabriela have spent much of their remarkable 20-year career performing on increasingly larger stages around the globe. Highlights include sold out shows at such legendary venues as New York City’s Radio City Music Hall, Los Angeles, CA’s Hollywood Bowl, Morrison, CO’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre, London’s Royal Albert Hall, and Paris, FR’s Le Zenith, along with countless other theatres and concert halls in North America, Europe, Australia, and Japan.
RODRIGO Y GABRIELA ON TOUR 2019
APRIL
13 – Munich, GERMANY – Technikum
15 – Berlin, GERMANY – Columbia Theater
17 – Bourges, FRANCE – Printemps de Bourges
18 – Luxembourg City, LUXEMBOURG – den Atelier
19 – Brussels, BELGIUM – Cirque Royal
21 – Dublin, IRELAND – Olympia Theatre
24 – London, ENGLAND – Roundhouse
25 – Paris, FRANCE – L’Olympia
27 – Chamonix, FRANCE – Musilac Mont Blanc *
MAY
4 – Austin, TX – ACL Live at the Moody Theater
5 – Memphis, TN – Beale Street Music Festival *
15 – Boston, MA – Orpheum Theatre
17 – Philadelphia, PA – Franklin Music Hall
18 – New York, NY – Beacon Theatre
23 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit
24 – Chicago, IL – The Chicago Theatre
JUNE
1 – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre
2 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
4 – Wilmington, NC – Greenfield Lake Amphitheatre
5 – Charlottesville, VA – Sprint Pavilion
7 – Vienna, VA – Wolf Trap Filene Center
8 – Cleveland, OH – LaureLive *
9 – Grand Rapids, MI – Frederik Meijer Gardens Amphitheater
JULY
3 – Montreal Jazz Fest – Montreal, Canada *
5 – Ottawa Bluesfest – Ottawa, ON *
9 – Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua – Bayfield, WI
13 – Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery – Woodinville, WA
- FESTIVAL APPEARANCE
