Montreal’s Psychotropical Orchestra Announces New Album La Travesía and Drops First Single “Mal de Amor” Ahead of April 18 Launch at Quai des Brumes
Montreal’s Psychotropical Orchestra is set to unveil their latest album, La Travesía, on April 1, 2025, introducing a mesmerizing fusion of Latin rhythms, alternative rock, and intricate sound design. At the heart of this sonic journey are Mariano Franco (vocals & sound design), Fernando Pinzón (guitar & sound design), and Jose Dominguez (drums) —three musicians whose deep-rooted passion for cross-cultural experimentation has shaped the band’s distinctive sound. With influences ranging from Latin tropical music to psychedelic rock and electronic textures, La Travesía is an album that both moves and hypnotizes.
Coinciding with the album release, the band is dropping the first single, “Mal de Amor” out now. “Mal de Amor” captures the raw emotion of love and loss, its infectious rhythm pulsing through distorted guitars and Franco’s evocative vocals, showcasing the band’s ability to weave compelling narratives through music, pushing the boundaries of Latin alternative.
Lyrically, La Travesía explores themes of longing, resilience, and transformation. The album’s title—translated as The Journey—serves as a metaphor for both personal and collective experiences, mirroring the band members’ own paths from their Latin American roots to Montreal’s thriving artistic landscape. Each song is crafted with poetic depth and sonic richness, delivering an experience that resonates on a visceral level. Fans and press will have access to full lyrics alongside the album’s liner notes, offering further insight into the creative process behind each track.
Since its formation, Psychotropical Orchestra has built a reputation for boundary-pushing performances that blend live instrumentation with immersive electronic elements. Their music exists at the crossroads of tradition and modernity, combining the rhythmic intensity of rock with the experimental edge of alternative soundscapes. With previous projects garnering attention across underground and independent music circles, La Travesía marks their most ambitious work to date—a fully realized vision of the band’s genre-blurring identity.
To celebrate the release, Psychotropical Orchestra will take the stage at Montreal’s Quai des Brumes on April 18 at 9:30 PM for an album launch show that promises to be a thrilling, high-energy performance. Fans can expect a dynamic live set, blending the pulsating beats of La Travesía with the band’s signature improvisational spirit. This will be the first opportunity to experience the new material in its full, electrifying form.
For those eager to dive into the album ahead of the release show, MP3s, WAVs, and streaming links (Spotify, YouTube, Bandcamp) will be available, along with full lyrics, album artwork, and press photos. Follow Psychotropical Orchestra on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for exclusive updates, behind-the-scenes content, and more. With La Travesía, the band invites listeners on a journey through sound, memory, and movement—an experience that lingers long after the music fades.
Hi gang! Good to meet you! Care to introduce yourselves to the readers?
Hi! We are the Psychotropical Orchestra, a fusion band of Latin music, rock, and electro, founded by Fernando Pinzón and myself, Mariano Franco, in the scorching summer of 2003. After years of playing metal, tired of screaming and shredding on our guitars, we decided to experiment with rhythms that, for us—lifelong rockers—felt almost forbidden: cumbia, cha-cha-chá, mambo, and all those delicious Latin beats. That’s when we started bringing together other Latin American immigrants in Montreal to unleash our musical imagination, free of restrictions or formulas. Among them was José Domínguez, who now returns for this new stage of the band. That summer marked the beginning of our mission to take the clubs and festivals of Quebec, Toronto, and Mexico by storm.
La Travesía is described as a sonic journey that blends Latin rhythms, alternative rock, and intricate sound design. What was the creative spark behind this album, and how did you shape its overall concept?
The spark that ignited this album was our desire to continue with our musical experimentation and our longing to leave a testimony of our journey through this world. With this album, we aim to contribute our own way of feeling Afro-Latin rhythms, rock, and electronic music, our main influences and musical passions. So, Fernando and I decided to create an album without constraints, an album to reflect our cultural and musical diversity. Everything we love is there, mixed and adapted to our unique vision of music and the world.
The title, La Travesía, metaphorically represents both personal and collective experiences. How do your own journeys from your Latin American roots to Montreal influence the themes and sound of the album?
Fernando and I have been making music together in Canada since 1999, a couple of years after we immigrated to Montreal from Panama and Mexico, respectively. It was during this time that we founded Mi Santa Sangre, the first Spanish-language metal band in Canada. After that adventure, we embarked on a musical journey through different genres, including ska, alternative rock, and electro-latin. However, the most significant project, and one that has always served as a workshop for fusion and experimentation, has undoubtedly been Psychotropical Orchestra—an eclectic beast composed of various genres and rhythms, where the Latin American rhythms that were hidden in our subconscious manifested to create a unique blend of rock, electro, and Latin rhythms, primarily cumbia.
After touring Quebec, Ontario, and Mexico, and having released two albums, Psychotropical Orchestra went on pause in 2009. Fernando and I continued making music together and separately, but in 2022, we decided to join forces again and resurrect the band to create La Travesía. The concept for the album came naturally, as we wanted to pay tribute to our journey through music, as well as to our cultural baggage and all the experiences that time has given us.
La travesía, reflects our musical journey and also the journey of our genes through time and geographical spaces as diverse as the sounds of the album. This album reflects, in some way, what cultures are: amalgamations of ideas that people carry and bring through the relentless human migrations. La Travesía is that—a fusion of sounds, memories, and desires for a future in which diversity and fusion are understood. Mestizaje (hybridity) is the nature of humans, of cultures, and of our music.
And that “Mestizaje” is what gives life to this album, where our way of conceiving and playing Latin rhythms in our own style creates a unique and hybrid musical world.
Psychotropical Orchestra is known for its immersive live performances. How do you plan to bring La Travesía to life on stage during your album launch at Quai des Brumes?
Our new show and album are going to take some by surprise because we’re returning to the stage as a trio—far from the orchestra that Psychotropical was in its first phase. We went from being an eight-piece band, with a classic rock lineup of guitar, bass, and drums, plus percussion and brass, to stripping it all down. That’s all in the past now.
For this new album, we wanted complete freedom—taking full advantage of technology to create without limits or concessions. Having more traditional elements felt restrictive, so we only called José Domínguez back to complete the trio and reinforce the percussive side of things. We’re also giving more space to electronic sounds, but without losing the essence of our style—especially with Fernando’s eccentric, wild guitars cutting through the mix.
But make no mistake—the band’s energy on stage is just as explosive, if not even more. We may be getting older, but we still have the same punk spirit and energy when playing a cumbia.
To fill out the set, we reworked and adapted some of our favorite songs from past albums, giving them a fresh makeover to make them compatible with the new show. One of them, La Cumbia del Robot—our biggest hit in 2008-09—turned out so well that we decided to record it again, and it’s now part of the album.
Our music and live show are far from the typical resort tunes you’d hear in Punta Cana. This is modern, frenetic music—made for dancing and jumping—driven by high energy and infused with a Latin touch.
The album’s production features a mix of live instrumentation and electronic elements. Can you walk us through your creative process in the studio? Any experimental techniques or unique recording approaches that shaped the final sound?
It all started with songs that Fernando and I had composed separately on our computers. During Psychotropical’s hiatus, I released two albums as Papi Chulo y su Grupo Invisible, an electronic project rooted in tropical futurism. But in 2022, Fernando and I realized we had a lot of material that fit better with our Psychotropical sound—and that we missed playing live together. So we decided to merge our work and kick off the pre-production process.
First, we selected the songs, then we worked on the electronic sequences and beats. After that, we wrote the lyrics and added the guitars. The final stage came when we called José, realizing that live drums were essential to give the music strength and cohesion. The entire album was produced, recorded, and mixed by Fernando and me. We poured all our passion into it, and we hope to make a few restless souls dance.
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