Chicano Batman Release New Studio Album 'Notebook Fantasy'

Today, acclaimed psych-soul band and Los Angeles institution Chicano Batman release their fifth studio album, Notebook Fantasy, via ATO Records. Produced by John Congleton (St. Vincent, Erykah Badu) and partly recorded at the historic Sunset Sound, Notebook Fantasy embraces a sonic approach that bassist Eduardo Arenas refers to as “painting in primary colors.”

Notebook Fantasy takes its title from a phenomenon likely familiar to anyone who feels outside the status quo: the act of spending your formative years dreaming up other worlds and realities in the pages of a notebook, exploring those possibilities with a bold and wide-eyed freedom. The band, comprised of vocalist/lyricist Bardo, guitarist Carlos Arévalo, and bassist Eduardo Arenas, first announced the album in January alongside the release of the album's debut single “Fly,” a lovestruck reverie lit up with gauzy textures and heavenly group vocals, which they brought to the Jimmy Kimmel Live! stage on March 20th - watch the full performance HERE. Second single “Era Primavera” was released in February, a symphonic love song inspired by vocalist/lyricist Bardo's fascination with 1960s Latin ballads. Most recently, they shared focus track “Live Today,” which opens the album with bold synths and introspective lyrics, setting the tone for the following 11 tracks. Throughout the album, Chicano Batman channel moments of lightning-in-a-bottle inspiration into songs that push into fantastically strange terrain yet remain rooted in raw emotion.

“We wanted to peel back all the fuzziness and compression, and create something big and punchy and clear that would still hold up if you stripped it down to just a vocal and one instrument,” says guitarist Carlos Arévalo. 

“Making this album allowed us to stop reaching toward anything besides being completely ourselves,” Arenas shares. “We believe we have something unique to speak to the world, so we focused on getting that across with confidence and conviction instead of worrying about any outside noise. We want to be so untouchable that no one can take our shine away, and hopefully that'll help other people to shine too.”

In addition to releasing their most collaborative album to date, Chicano Batman will also be featured on A24's forthcoming Everyone's Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense album. 

The band will be embarking on an expansive world tour next month, bringing their lively performances coast-to-coast across North America, culminating the first leg in a massive homecoming with a headlining performance at The Kia Forum on June 29th. They will be joined by acclaimed Colombian-Canadian singer-songwriter Lido Pimienta and El Monte's The Red Pears along the tour. In August, they will perform a run of shows in the United Kingdom and Europe for the first time, followed by multiple performances across Mexico. 

Chicano Batman celebrated the album release early with a private KROQ show on Wednesday in Los Angeles, and will continue the festivities with an in-store signing at Fingerprints in Long Beach, CA tomorrow. Fans can keep an eye out for their Reddit Indieheads ‘Ask Me Anything' session tied to Notebook Fantasy on April 1st at 10am PST. 

Chicano Batman Tour Dates

4/19 - Las Vegas, NV - Brooklyn Bowl*

4/20 - Phoenix, AZ - Van Buren*

4/21 - Albuquerque, NM - The El Rey Theater*

4/22 - El Paso, TX - Lowbrow Palace*

4/24 - Oklahoma City, OK - Tower Theatre*

4/25 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall*

4/26 - Austin, TX - Austin Psych Fest @ The Far Out Lounge

4/27 - Dallas, TX - The Factory*

4/28 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues*

5/1 - Bentonville, AR - The Momentary*

5/2  - St. Louis, MO - Delmar Hall*

5/3  - Nashville, TN - Brooklyn Bowl*

5/4 - Atlanta, GA - Shaky Knees Festival 

5/7 - Richmond, VA - The National*

5/8 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club*

5/9  - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel*

5/10 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club*

5/11 - North Adams, MA - Hunter Center Mass Moca*

5/12 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer*

5/15 - Columbus, OH - The Bluestone*

5/16 - Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue*

5/17 - Chicago, IL - Salt Shed*

5/18 - Minneapolis, MN - Uptown Theater*

6/20 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre*

6/21 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater*

6/22 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory*

6/24 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot*

6/25 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre*

6/26 - Taos, NM - Taos Mesa Brewing Mothership*

6/28 - San Diego, CA - Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre*

6/29 - Los Angeles, CA - The Kia Forum*^

6/30 - San Francisco, CA - TBA

8/29 - Amsterdam, NL - Tolhuistuin

8/31 - Manchester, UK - Manchester Psych Fest

9/3 - London, UK - Lafayette

9/4 - Paris, FR - La Maroquinerie

9/26 - Guadalajara, MX - C3 Stage

9/27 - Queretaro, MX - Foro Indie Rocks!

9/28 - Mexico City, MX - Auditorio BB

 

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