The Mars Volta is the seventh studio album by American progressive rock band the Mars Volta, released through Clouds Hill on September 16, 2022. Produced by guitarist, songwriter and musical director Omar Rodríguez-López, the album was preceded by the singles "Blacklight Shine", "Graveyard Love" and "Vigil". Self-titled to mark a "clean slate" in the band's history, it is the band's first studio album in over ten years, following their 2012 album, Noctourniquet, and subsequent break-up. After reuniting in secret in 2019, band leaders Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala made a conscious effort to break from their previous progressive rock sound and record a pop-influenced album, with Bixler-Zavala directly addressing his family's recent struggles with the Church of Scientology in his lyrics. The band will tour North America from September 2022 in support of the record. Background In late 2012, following the release of the Mars Volta's sixth studio album, Noctourniquet, core members Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals) and Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, production) disbanded the group after a falling out between the pair. Writing on his personal Twitter account in early 2013, Bixler-Zavala stated: "I can’t sit here and pretend any more. I no longer am a member of Mars Volta. For the record I tried my hardest to get a full scale North American tour going for Noctourniquet but Omar did not want to." Reflecting on this in 2022, Bixler-Zavala noted: "I was in a really impatient pla