GRAMMY® Award-winning guitar virtuosos Rodrigo y Gabriela have announced their landmark new album, In Between Thoughts…A New World, arriving via ATO Records on Friday, April 21. Pre-orders are available now. Rodrigo y Gabriela’s eagerly awaited follow-up to 2019’s GRAMMY® Award-winning Mettavolution and first full-length collection in four years, In Between Thoughts…A New World arrives as one of the duo’s most revelatory offerings yet – a spontaneously composed unified work primed to bring about the same expansion of consciousness that inspired its creation. Self-produced by Rodrigo y Gabriela at their studio in Ixtapa, Mexico, the album – which sees the guitar duo expanding their traditional approach to include inventive electronic and orchestral elements – is heralded by today’s premiere of the first single, “Descending To Nowhere,” available now on all DSPs. An official music video, directed by acclaimed Mexican filmmaker/broadcaster Olallo Rubio, premieres today via YouTube.

WATCH “DESCENDING TO NOWHERE” OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

LISTEN TO “DESCENDING TO NOWHERE”

PRE-ORDER IN BETWEEN THOUGHTS…A NEW WORLD

“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,” says director Olallo Rubio. “So this video is just a small part of a larger story. They always imagined this world in animation, but we thought it’d be conceptually interesting to start in this dark, bleak, live action world and then enter the animated universe in color. I called artists Andy Butler (British) and Pogo (Mexican), with whom I worked before on a documentary about Alejandro Jodorowsky (the Chilean multi-disciplinary artist) because I knew they’d understand the spiritual/surreal concept we were developing.”

“Descending To Nowhere” furthers serves as the culmination of last year’s Stages, a cycle of nine deeply metaphysical mini videos which first introduced the faceless characters that drive Rodrigo y Gabriela’s powerful narrative. A complete compilation of all nine Stages mini videos is streaming now on YouTube.

WATCH STAGES

Available exclusively at www.rodgab.com, the band is offering a deluxe version of the album on vinyl. This limited edition of 2,000 units includes all 9 Stages tracks on an opaque “Galaxy” custom color LP in addition to the album on a transluscent “Galaxy” custom color LP in a gatefold package. Pre-order is available now HERE.

Rodrigo y Gabriela will mark the arrival of In Between Thoughts…A New World with a robust international touring schedule that includes a North American headline tour set to get underway May 18 at Houston, TX’s Smart Financial Centre and then continues until early July. Highlights include performances at such renowned venues as London’s Roundhouse (April 24), Los Angeles, CA’s YouTube Theatre (June 1), Morrison, CO’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre (June 11), Nashville, TN’s Ryman Auditorium (June 19), Brooklyn, NY’s Kings Theatre (June 27), and Montreal, Quebec’s Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier | Place des Arts. Tickets go on sale this Friday, February 17. For complete details and ticket information, please visit www.rodgab.com/tour-dates. Additional shows will be announced soon.

RODRIGO Y GABRIELA

TOUR 2023

+A Special Performance with Antonio Sanchez
*With support from Krooked Kings
^With support from Bahamas
⁰With support from Ondara

APRIL

24 – London, UK – Roundhouse
25 – Paris, FR – Bouffes Du Nord
26 – Paris, FR – Bouffes Du Nord
30 – Cheltenham, UK – Cheltenham Jazz Festival

MAY

18 – Houston, TX – Smart Financial Centre*
19 – Austin, TX – ACL Live At Moody Theatre*
20 – San Antonio, TX – The Espee*
21 – Dallas, TX – AT&T Strauss Square*
25 – Scottsdale, AZ – Scottsdale Center for the Arts*
26 – San Diego, CA – Humphreys Concerts By The Bay*+
27 – San Diego, CA – Humphreys Concerts By The Bay*+

JUNE

1 – Los Angeles, CA – YouTube Theatre^+
2 – San Bernardino, CA – Yaamava’ Theater
3 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theater^
4 – Sacramento, CA – Mondavi Center UC Davis^
7 – Portland, OR – Grand Lodge^
10 – Salt Lake City, UT – Sandy Amphitheater^
11 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre^+
13 – Minneapolis, MN – Fitzgerald Theatre
14 – Madison, WI – Orpheum Theater⁰
16 – Chicago, IL – The Chicago Theatre⁰
17 – Detroit, MI – Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre⁰
19 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium⁰
20 – Atlanta, GA – Atlanta Symphony Hall⁰
22 – Durham, NC – Carolina Theatre⁰
23 – Wilmington, NC – Greenfield Lake Amphitheater⁰
25 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club⁰
27 – Brooklyn, NY – Kings Theatre⁰
28 – Philadelphia, PA – Longwood Gardens⁰
29 – Boston, MA – Chevalier Theatre⁰

JULY

1 – Montreal, QC – Montreal Jazz Fest, Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier | Place des Arts
2 – Niagara Falls, ON – Fallsview Casino Avalon Theatre

SEPTEMBER

25 – Hamburg, DE Mojo
26 – Berlin, DE Passionskirche
29 – Milan, IT – Santeria
30 – Bologna, IT – Estragon

OCTOBER

2 – Rome, IT – Auditorium Parco della Musica/Sala Sinopoli
5 – Oslo, NO – Rockefeller
7 – Stockholm, SE – Sodra Teatern
9 – Copenhagen, DK – Amager Bio
11 – Warsaw, PL – Palladium
16 – Dublin, IE – Vicar Street
17 – Belfast, UK – Mandela Hall
19 – Manchester, UK – Albert Hall
20 – Leeds, UK – O2 Academy
21 – Birmingham, UK – Town Hall
23 – London, UK – Palladium
25 – Lille, France – L’Aeronef
27 – Lausanne, CH – Théâtre de Beaulieu
29 – Utrecht, NL – Tivoli Vredenburg, Grote Zaal
30 – Brussels, BE – Cirque Royal
31 – Antwerp, BE – De Roma

NOVEMBER

2 – Nantes, FR – Stereolux
3 – Bordeaux, FR – Le Rocher De Palmer
5 – Toulouse, FR – Le Bikini
7 – Madrid, ES – Sala La Paqui
9 – Barcelona, ES – Razzmatazz 2
10 – Nimes, FR – Paloma
11 – Lyon, FR – Le Radiant

# # #

For over two decades, Rodrigo y Gabriela have created music that invites lasting transcendence, mesmerizing audiences across the globe with their virtuosic yet wildly inventive guitar playing. Critically lauded albums like 2019’s GRAMMY® Award-winning Mettavolution have seen the Mexico City-bred duo continually turning to musical expression as a form of spiritual searching, a journey that recently led to the making of their sixth studio album. Sparked from their study of Advaita Vedanta (a Hindu philosophy rooted in the concept of nondualism), In Between Thoughts…A New World emerged from a transformative period of spiritual awakening and a subsequent burst of unfettered creativity.

While recovering from Covid in the fall of 2020, Rodrigo stumbled upon the concept of nondualism – the notion that there is a “single, infinite, and indivisible reality, whose nature is pure consciousness, from which all objects and selves derive their apparently independent existence,” in the words of author/teacher Rupert Spira. He shared his findings with Gabriela, who felt a similar resonance. As they delved further into the philosophy, the duo began channeling this new sense of heightened awareness into song form.

“The music just started flowing out, without any real intention,” says Rodrigo. “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.”

In a testament to the expressiveness and depth of Rodrigo y Gabriela’s musicality, In Between Thoughts wordlessly leads the listener through a complex narrative complete with plot, emotional arcs, and plenty of dramatic tension. Mixed by James Monti (The Who, The Head and the Heart) and mastered by Greg Calbi (Tame Impala, Beach House), the album marks a sharp departure from the duo’s signature acoustic sound, with Rodrigo trading his acoustic guitar for electric, adding a mercurial new energy elegantly amplified by the duo’s subtle use of analog synths, Mellotron, and other electronic instruments. Rodrigo y Gabriela also worked remotely with Vienna-based composer Adam Ilyas Kuruc and The Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra, who ornamented the duo’s serpentine arrangements with lush strings and powerful percussion. Yet even as it pushes into uncharted sonic terrain, the album draws much of its power from the singular dynamic that’s always distinguished Rodrigo y Gabriela’s music, a delicate interplay between Gabriela’s potent and percussive strumming and Rodrigo’s breathlessly fast yet intricate lead guitar work.

Reflecting on the making of In Between Thoughts…A New World, Rodrigo y Gabriela are quick to note the charmed spontaneity that guided their process — an element that extends all the way to their serendipitous discovery of conceptual artist Jeremy Gluck, who created the album’s cover art and whose work is partly inspired by the teachings of the renowned Indian guru of nondualism Nisargadatta Maharaj.

“I think one of the main things we’ll take away from this experience is to let the music flow, let it live and breathe without judging it first,” says Gabriela. 

“We didn’t work on this record thinking, ‘Let’s share this message with the world’ — we’re not interested in preaching anything,” says Rodrigo. “If it benefits people in any way to learn about this, then that’s wonderful. But for us it was a way to explore something that’s brought us a lot of peace and freedom – something that we love talking about because it’s changed our lives in an incredible way.”

RODRIGO Y GABRIELA
IN BETWEEN THOUGHTS…A NEW WORLD
(ATO RECORDS)
Release Date: Friday, April 21

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

# # #

About Rodrigo y Gabriela:

Grammy Award-winning duo Rodrigo y Gabriela grew up on an eclectic mix of classic rock, heavy metal, and flamenco, a rare alchemy of influences that still informs their work today. Not long after the dissolution of their first band, the two musicians set off with their acoustic guitars and ended up in Ireland, where they soon ran out of money and began busking on Dublin’s Grafton Street — a turn of events that led to their crossing paths with Irish singer/songwriter Damien Rice, who then asked them to open for him at an early headline show. As they developed their distinct breed of guitar music, Rodrigo y Gabriela quickly gained recognition for their extraordinary live show and made their full-length debut, 2002’s re-Foc. Along with turning out eight additional acclaimed and kaleidoscopic albums over the years, including 2009’s 11:11 (which was nominated for a NAACP Image Award for an Outstanding World Music Album), Area 52 (a 2012 effort made with a Cuban orchestra), 9 Dead Alive (a 2014 release that spotlighted their more rock-leaning sensibilities), and the 2020 Grammy Award-winning Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, Mettavolution, the duo has cemented their status as a globally renowned live act. Among their many successes: performing at The White House for the President and First Lady of Mexico at a 2010 event hosted by Barack Obama; working with Hans Zimmer on the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides soundtrack; being a featured artist on the Puss in Boots soundtrack; headlining the Jazz World stage at Glastonbury; selling out major venues like the Hollywood Bowl with the LA Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, London’s Royal Albert Hall, Radio City Music Hall, and the Sydney Opera House; and performing to massive crowds in such far-flung cities as Tokyo and Paris. In 2022, they received a Grammy nomination for their cover of Metallica’s “The Struggle Within” for The Metallica Blacklist.