BALTHVS are releasing ‘Transmutations’ on March 20 via their own Cubensis Records imprint, and it is unlike anything in their catalog. Captured live during their late 2025 European concerts and the Flesh and Soul tour by Zev Russ, then brought back into studios in San Diego and Bogotá for additional recording and production by bandleader Balthazar Aguirre, the album sits in genuinely rare territory: not a live record, not a conventional studio release, but a document of transformation. “We ‘transmuted’ the live concert into a studio album,” the band says. “We re-recorded multiple elements to ensure pristine studio quality while preserving the energy of the live experience, and ‘alchemized’ the songs.” The result is the Colombian psych-funk trio at their most fully realized, shaped by a world tour that took them across Europe, the United States and Latin America, with dates opening for My Morning Jacket and appearances at major festivals, delivering a unique setlist at every single show.
The album is also a human document. It marks a bittersweet farewell to fill-in bassist Vanessa Muñoz, whose ferocious energy redefined these songs in concert, and a joyful homecoming for returning member Johanna Mercuriana. Both appear on the record, because the band refused to erase either chapter. Longtime listeners will find the band’s signature warmth in “Johanna’s Dream” and their reverence for improvisation in “Inner Heights.” “All is One” gave birth to a full offspring in “Outer Reaches,” a tribal drum-driven journey anchored by the percussive work of Santiago. “Ojos Verdes” similarly spawned “LSD in Bahia,” a hypnotic fusion of Brazilian and Hungarian rhythms filtered through the BALTHVS lens. Newer listeners will find an immediate entry point in “Mood Swing,” born from a remix by collaborator Sinego, and “Shakedown Street,” the band’s love letter to the Grateful Dead, a group they call foundational to their entire musical pursuit.
‘Transmutations’ also marks BALTHVS’s first fully independent release, a milestone that reflects five years of growth as artists who now have complete command of both their creative and business lives. The full track listing: “Ojos Verdes (Alchemized),” “LSD in Bahia,” “Mood Swing (Alchemized),” “Flesh and Soul (Alchemized),” “All is One (Alchemized),” “Outer Reaches,” “Shakedown Street,” “Inner Heights,” and “Johanna’s Dream (Alchemized).” This is a record that could only exist now, shaped by the people who came and went and by the audiences who helped the band discover what their music could become. ‘Transmutations’ is out March 20 on Cubensis Records.