THE MALKIN JEWEL

A new single that will be on their soon to be released album Noctourniquet. I was able to hear this on YouTube and though I would try to review. This is an interesting (big surprise for Mars Volta, huh?) single. It starts with a cacophony of out of tune sounds that merge into a slow song with half sung and half chanted singing. As usual for The Mars Volta, the lyrics are deep and probably have some meaning which I can't fathom, also as usual. But the lyrics have never been the biggest part of why I enjoy this band so much. This song seems to steer away for the more mellow sound of Octahedron and maybe promises a return to their more "arty" work such as Francis The Mute. I hope so, anyways. I liked their last release, but not as much as their earlier cd's. It is hard to rate this single before I hear it in context with the entire album, but it is good enough for 3 stars. Pretty good.