Artist extraordinaire Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is back with a new and ambitious release alongside his solo band, The Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Band, consisting of new and old collaborators.
In addition to his work with numerous bands such as At The Drive-In, The Mars Volta, Bosnian Rainbows, Antemasque, etc. Rodriguez-Lopez has kept several iterations of his self-titled band (not to be confused with his actual solo recordings and soundtrack work) that has included a great number of members, ranging from his bandmates in other projects like Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Juan Alderete, Le Butcherette's Teri Gender Bender, and Mexican pop singer Ximena Sariñana. The Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Band in 2020 has a very emotional song for us to hear.
"Vanishing Tide" is a piano and guitar-led track that showcases the talents of the new lineup of the band, including Rodriguez-Lopez's brother Marcel. But it's vocalist Virginia Garcia Alves who really shines through in "Vanishing Tide;" her voice floating over sweet and cryptic chords that build up a nice if a bit unsettling atmosphere. The baroque ballad recalls the softer moments of some of the proggier influences of The Mars Volta without their usual dissonant contrasts of many flights of fancy soloing.
The tune is part of the expansive new release The Clouds Hill Tapes Parts I-III, a three-LPs box set of recordings made during sessions between 2018 and 2019, due out July 24. There's also a video for "Vanishing Tide" directed by Johann Scheerer that shows the band working their magic in the studio. You can watch the video and listen to the song now.
