LA psych-soul institution, Chicano Batman, have just released their new single, “Fly,” and its accompanying music video. On March 29th, they will unveil their upcoming album, Notebook Fantasy, due out via ATO Records. This is the fifth full-length LP from the band. Watch the new video below and read more from Chicano Batman.
Stream “Fly” here.
Pre-order/pre-save Notebook Fantasy here.
On the new single, the band shares, ““Fly is a song that you hope for as a songwriter. Lighting in a bottle, straight up! It’s the kind that comes organically from the universe, and if you get out of the way, it takes shape effortlessly into the song it needs to be. Like a river flowing and weaving seamlessly through its banks. This song’s creation process was euphoric and full of many inspired and memorable moments in the studio from beginning to end. We hope those sentiments translate to you, the listener!”
Once again, Chicano Batman stretch boundaries and magnify the scope of their striking signature sound with panache, poise, and passion. Throughout the album, produced by GRAMMY Award winner John Congleton (Erykah Badu, Death Cab For Cutie, St. Vincent), the musicians lace gritty soul with arena-size ambition projected out loud through artful electric guitar, unshakable grooves, and entrancing earworm melodies. “Fly” lifts off with an anthemic hook chanted like an invitation, “I wanna fly with you.”
Simultaneously, the accompanying visual, directed by sisters Juliana and Nicola Giraffe, translates this energy to the screen in cinematic fashion. The ultra-camp 70s inspired clip features Bardo Martinez adorned in pearls and heavy makeup, Eduardo Arenas in a fringed cowboy suit, and Carlos Arévalo shredding a gold glittering guitar. Complete with a heart backdrop and flying dove, the music video is a lighthearted celebration of love.
A product of Los Angeles’s unmatched melting pot of cultures and vibes, Chicano Batman remains a hometown favorite and has popped off as an international phenomenon. Bringing the new material to life, the band will launch an extensive North American tour in 2024. They hit the road on April 19 in Las Vegas, NV at Brooklyn Bowl, visit major markets coast-to-coast, and return home for a massive gig at The Kia Forum in Los Angeles, CA on June 29. The group will be joined by acclaimed Colombian-Canadian singer-songwriter Lido Pimienta and El Monte’s The Red Pears along the tour. Check out the full confirmed itinerary below.
Notebook Fantasy tracklisting:
01 Live Today
02 Notebook Fantasy
03 Parallels
04 Beautiful Daughter
05 Era Primavera
06 Fly
07 Lei Lá
08 Tears Away (feat. Say She She)
09 The Way You Say It (feat. Say She She)
10 Hojas Secas
11 Losing My Mind (feat. Say She She)
12 Fairytale Love (feat. Say She She)
Chicano Batman Tour Dates
04/19 – Las Vegas, NV – Brooklyn Bowl*
04/20 – Phoenix, AZ – Van Buren*
04/21 – Albuquerque, NM – The El Rey Theater*
04/22 – El Paso, TX – Lowbrow Palace*
04/24 – Oklahoma City, OK – Tower Theatre*
04/25 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall*
04/26 – Austin, TX – Austin Psych Fest @ The Far Out Lounge*
04/27 – Dallas, TX – The Factory*
04/28 – New Orleans, LA – House of Blues*
05/01 – Bentonville, AR – The Momentary*
05/02 – St. Louis, MO – Delmar Hall*
05/03 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl*
05/04 – Atlanta, GA – Shaky Knees Festival
05/07 – Richmond, VA – The National*
05/08 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club*
05/09 – New York, NY – Brooklyn Steel*
05/10 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club*
05/11 – North Adams, MA – Hunter Center Mass MoCa*
05/12 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer*
05/15 – Columbus, OH – The Bluestone*
05/16 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue*
05/17 – Chicago, IL – Salt Shed*
05/18 – Minneapolis, MN – Uptown Theater*
06/20 – Seattle, WA – Moore Theatre*
06/21 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theater*
06/22 – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory*
06/24 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot*
06/25 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre*
06/26 – Taos, NM – Taos Mesa Brewing Mothership
06/28 – San Diego, CA – Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre
06/29 – Los Angeles, CA – The Kia Forum*^
06/30 – San Francisco, CA – TBA
08/29 – Amsterdam, NL – Tolhuistuin
08/31 – Manchester, UK – Manchester Psych Fest
09/03 – London, UK – Lafayette
09/04 – Paris, FR – La Maroquinerie
Openers:
* Lido Pimienta
^ The Red Pears
More from Chicano Batman:
The latest album from SoCal institution Chicano Batman, Notebook Fantasy is a body of work that sheds all inhibitions and fully reveals the sublime expanse of the Los Angeles-bred band’s musical imagination. In the making of their fifth full-length, vocalist/lyricist Bardo, guitarist Carlos Arévalo, and bassist Eduardo Arenas doubled down on their hyper-creative tendencies, discovering new dimensions of their prismatic musicality while infusing their lyrics with a soulful yet unflinching honesty. Notebook Fantasy 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, and 2020’s Invisible People. However, the project, produced by John Congleton (St. Vincent, Erykah Badu) and partly recorded at the historic Sunset Sound, veers away from the subtler sensibilities of their previous works and embraces a much bolder sonic approach—a move that involved executing their vision with a newly heightened mastery of their musicianship. With its dizzying constellation of song forms and sounds—including arena-ready anthems, symphonic love songs, psychedelic space odysseys, and freewheeling hybrids of cumbia and funk —Notebook Fantasy endlessly channels moments of lightning-in-a-bottle inspiration into songs that push into fantastically strange terrain yet remain rooted in raw emotion. The album is the latest triumph in an extraordinary career that began with taking the stage at local dive bars, growing their powerful live performances by touring with artists like Alabama Shakes, Portugal The Man, and Jack White, playing Coachella numerous times, and most recently earning a headlining spot at L.A.’s iconic Forum in summer 2024. The result is Chicano Batman’s most truly collaborative work to date—one that wholly reflects all the joy, pain, and much-needed catharsis that fueled all aspects of its creation.
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