Back in 2020, we premiered a Red Mesa track–featuring Wino no less–in our first introduction to the Albuquerque-based desert rock power trio. Since then, the Land of Enchantment natives have busied themselves through the pandemic. Today, we follow-up with new music from Red Mesa, an arboreal doomed-out rock song that traverses the sentiments felt while bassist Alex Cantwell was hiking in the Oak Flat area in Tijeras, New Mexico. There’s a distinct forested equilibrium vibe happening on the song’s 5-minute expanse, something fans of very early Cathedral (as well as Kyuss, of course) will delight in.
Says Cantwell: “In New Mexico, there are different topographies within a short drive from each other including high desert landscapes, forested mountains, river valleys with old growth trees called the Bosque, sand dunes, grass plains, salt flats, caves, etc. This provides an aesthetic variety and different perspectives. I spent 10 months renting a cabin in the mountains in the forest, and it was an amazing place to spend time. I especially loved my frequent hikes, and this song, riff by riff was all pieced together in my head as the muse provided it to me and made it available for me to snatch out of the air. The lyrics are simply an outpouring of simple gratitude for the forest itself.”
New Mexico’s diverse landscape–including the weirdness of cities like Albuquerque–is an inspiration to Red Mesa. Both guitarist/vocalist Brad Frye and drummer Roman Barham worked jobs in the BLM and the Forest Service and other environmental organizations years ago. The trio are avid outdoorsmen, too. So, the reverence for The Cactus State is palpable through the group’s discography, but especially in new single “Forest Cathedral.”
Smell the dahlias, fear New Mexico’s Apache brown recluse spiders, and relish in the fuzzed-out, groove-laden “Forest Equilibrium.”