Article Contributed by Press Junkie PR
Published on 2026-02-25
BALTHVS, the Colombian psych-funk trio, has wrapped up their massive world tour and impressively stayed true to a commitment they made to themselves and their fans: to deliver a unique setlist at every show. As they traveled across Europe, the U.S., and Latin America, with dates opening for My Morning Jacket and major festivals, the band saw firsthand what happens to a song when it is given a year, crowds and open stages to evolve.
BALTHVS recalls, “For some time, we wanted to show the world that live BALTHVS was a whole other experience than what we showed on our records. When we made the records, we envisioned the home as the place where these sounds would resonate; we wanted to give space and calm for the uncertain times the 2020s ushered in. As life slowly went back to normal, we could head out for the first time to the stage and perform. The wild energy accumulates, and as the decade goes through, so does the intensity of the music and the world, the fire of the audience and the increasing size of the stages, propelling new energy into our melodies and rhythms. After a while, the live offerings were unrecognizable from the original song.”
Their newest album is the product of that time on the road. Aptly titled Transmutations, it defies easy categorization. It is not a live album, nor a conventional studio release, but something rarer: a document of transformation. It was captured live during their late 2025 European concerts and the Flesh and Soul tour, by Zev Russ, with additional studio recordings taking place in San Diego, CA, and Bogota, Colombia, recorded and produced by bandleader Balthazar Aguirre.
BALTHVS says, “We ‘transmuted’ the live concert into a studio album, we had no restrictions with the material, we re-recorded multiple elements in order to ensure pristine studio quality while preserving the energy of the live experience, and ‘alchemized’ the songs.”
Transmutations is due out March 20th on their own Cubensis Records.
The album also marks a transitional moment in the band’s story. It serves as both farewell and welcome: a bittersweet send-off for fill-in bassist Vanessa Muñoz, whose ferocious energy redefined the sound of these songs in concert, and a joyful homecoming for Johanna Mercuriana. Both appear on the record, as the band is unwilling to erase either chapter, making Transmutations a living record of the people who shaped it.
On the new album, longtime fans will recognize the band’s signature warmth in Johanna’s Dream and their reverence for improvisation in Inner Heights. All is One, their psychedelic centerpiece, grew a full offspring in Outer Reaches, a tribal drum-driven journey that spotlights the percussive brilliance of Santiago. Ojos Verdes similarly gave birth to LSD in Bahia, a hypnotic fusion of Brazilian and Hungarian rhythms filtered through the unmistakable BALTHVS lens. Those newer to BALTHVS will find an entry point in Mood Swing, a dance-floor-ready arrangement born from a remix by collaborator Sinego, and Shakedown Street, the band’s love letter to the Grateful Dead, a group that is foundational to their entire musical pursuit and as BALTHVS says, “probably the only Colombian Deadheads.”
With Transmutations, BALTHVS celebrates their first fully independent release, arriving under their own Cubensis Records imprint. It is a milestone that reflects five years of growth not just as musicians but as artists who have full command of their creative and business lives. It is a record that could only exist today, as it is shaped by everything they have lived and learned, by the people who came and went, and by the audiences who helped them discover what their music could become.
Album Track Listing:
1. Ojos Verdes (Alchemized)
2. LSD In Bahia
3. Mood Swing (Alchemized)
4. Flesh and Soul (Alchemized)
5. All is One (Alchemized)
6. Outer Reaches
7. Shakedown Street
8. Inner Heights
9. Johanna’s Dream (Alchemized)
