Latest album from SoCal’s Chicano Batman, Notebook Fantasy is a body of work that sheds all inhibitions and reveals the sublime expanse of the LA-bred band’s musical imagination. In the making of their 5th full-length, vocalist/lyricist Bardo, guitarist Carlos Arévalo, and bassist Eduardo Arenas doubled down on their hyper-creative tendencies, discovering new dimensions of their prismatic musicality while infusing their lyrics with a soulful yet unflinching honesty. Notebook Fantasy, produced by John Congleton (St. Vincent, Erykah Badu) and partly recorded at the historic Sunset Sound, veers away from the subtler sensibilities of their previous works and embraces a much bolder sonic approach a move that involved executing their vision with a newly heightened mastery of their musicianship. With its dizzying constellation of song forms and sounds, including arena ready anthems, symphonic love songs, psychedelic space odysseys, and freewheeling hybrids of cumbia and funk —Notebook Fantasy endlessly channels moments of lightning-in-a-bottle inspiration into songs that push into fantastically strange terrain yet remain rooted in raw emotion. The album is the latest triumph in an extraordinary career that began at local dive bars, growing their powerful live performances by touring with artists like Alabama Shakes, Portugal The Man, and Jack White, playing Coachella numerous times, and most recently earning a headlining spot at L.A.’s iconic Forum in summer 2024.