Rodrigo y Gabriela detailed a new album, In Between Thoughts…A New World, set for release via ATO Records on April 21. The virtuosic guitar duo also shared the single/video “Descending To Nowhere” along with 2023 tour dates (see below).
Rodrigo y Gabriela produced In Between Thoughts…A New World at their studio in Ixtapa, Mexico with mixing from James Monti (The Who, The Head and the Heart) and mastering from Greg Calbi (Tame Impala, Beach House). The concept for the new record grew out of a Hindu philosophy, called Advaita Vedanta, Rodrigo Sánchez discovered while recovering from COVID in Fall 2020.
The philosophy is rooted in the idea of nondualism, described by author/teacher Rupert Spira as a “single, infinite, and indivisible reality, whose nature is pure consciousness, from which all objects and selves derive their apparently independent existence.” Rodrigo y Gabriela began exploring how they could translate the philosophy sonically.
“The music just started flowing out, without any real intention,” Rodrigo recalled. “When we looked back, we realized we’d come up with nine songs that told the story of our coming to understand the Advaita path, in the exact perfect order. We didn’t change the foundation of the songs from that point, so what you hear on the album is the music as we were creating it…We didn’t work on this record thinking, ‘Let’s share this message with the world’ — we’re not interested in preaching anything. If it benefits people in any way to learn about this, then that’s wonderful.”
“I think one of the main things we’ll take away from this experience is to let the music flow,” Gabriela Quintero added, “let it live and breathe without judging it first.”
That music includes Rodrigo y Gabriela branching out from their more classical guitar stylings to utilizing synths and orchestral arrangements from Vienna-based composer Adam Ilyas Kuruc and The Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra. The duo previewed the record with the single “Descending To Nowhere,” which arrived with a music video directed by acclaimed Mexican filmmaker Olallo Rubio with art from Andy Butler and Pogo.
“The video is based on a specific chapter/segment of a storyline written by Rodrigo y Gabriela where a character has a spiritual journey towards non-dualism,” Rubio noted. “So this video is just a small part of a larger story.”
Watch the video for “Descending To Nowhere” below:
Rodrigo y Gabriela also mapped out In Between Thoughts…A New World Tour 2023. Following a run through the UK and France in April, the duo launches their North American tour dates on May 19 in Houston. Additional May dates include Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Phoenix and a two-night stand in San Diego.
Rodrigo Y Gabriela continue through California in June hitting the Los Angeles area, Oakland and Sacramento. Additional western dates include Portland, Salt Lake City and a stop at Colorado’s iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
The duo begins a Midwest swing on June 13 in Minneapolis followed by more Midwest stops in Madison, Chicago and Detroit. June 19 see Rod y Gab in Nashville followed by an Atlanta play. The duo then hits North Carolina with shows in Durham and Wilmington. A Northeast stint follows with concerts in Washington D.C., New York City and Philadelphia. The U.S. dates conclude on June 29 in Boston before a host of international dates in Canada, Europe and the UK in the following months.
A ticket presale is currently underway for Rodrigo y Gabriela’s U.S. dates. Purchase Rod y Gab tickets via Ticketmaster. Click below for full routing and ticket info:
In Between Thoughts…A New World Tracklist:
- True Nature
- The Eye That Catches The Dream
- Egoland
- Descending To Nowhere
- Seeking Unreality
- The Ride Of The Mind
- Broken Rage
- Finding Myself Leads Me To You
- In Between Thoughts…A New World
