Wille and the Bandits release new single and video “Reina del Mar” from forthcoming album Salt Roots
Following the release of singles Trouble Round the Bend and Wheal Jane, which won Classic Rock’s Track of the Week, Wille and the Bandits return with Reina del Mar, a track that shows another side of the band’s wide-ranging sound and cross-genre approach.
Reina del Mar is taken from the band’s forthcoming album Salt Roots, produced by Wille alongside long-time collaborator Josiah Manning and released on February 27th.
The ten-track album draws together the different musical paths the band has explored, moving comfortably between styles while staying rooted in strong songs and musicianship.
A Latin-rock influenced track, Reina del Mar was shaped by time spent on Spain’s Atlantic coast, where the sea is treated not as something to conquer, but as something sacred. The song reflects devotion to rhythm, tide, and timing, faith in an ancient force that gives only when it chooses.
Frontman Wille says “I wrote the initial riff around 10 years ago while travelling around Cuba and listening to some of the Buena Vista Social Club members still playing in Havana. I always loved how Ry Cooder brought slide guitar influences over the top of the band, and later Derek Trucks did the same with his own band. However, it wasn’t until I was on tour with a few days off in Galicia, Spain, knocking around and waiting for some surf to appear, that the idea of Maria came about. With its strong association with the sea, and Reina del Mar meaning ‘queen of the sea’ in Spanish, the song started to develop, as I felt the chorus needed to be in Spanish. The song is about waiting for the sea to show its magic.”
Atmospheric and restrained, the track highlights the band’s world-class musicianship. Harry Mackaill’s double bass anchors the song with depth and elegance, while Stevie brings rich Latin flavour on piano, weaving melody and rhythm into its coastal pulse. Add to this Wille’s unmistakable slide guitar and emotive vocal delivery, and the result is a truly striking and immersive recording.
Wille and the Bandits are more than a straight rock band, they are a band for music lovers and musical discovery. In the spirit of the great exploratory records of the 1970s, where artists expanded their worlds rather than repeating formulas, the band draws from sounds across cultures and continents, allowing them to genuinely shape the music rather than simply decorate it. Each release is approached as a journey, not a product, an evolving conversation between styles, places, and stories, where exploration never comes at the expense of emotional truth.
At its heart, Reina del Mar is a love letter to the ocean, a theme running through the album. Living by the sea has always shaped Wille, and swimming in the ocean almost every day, he says, “isn’t just something we do, it’s how my children and I stay connected to nature and to each other.” That deep connection led the band to partner with Surfers Against Sewage, using their music to stand up for the oceans they love and protect the waters that give so much back.
Salt Roots UK Tour
March 2026
4th Fleece | Bristol
5th The Brook | Southampton
6th John Peel Centre | Stowmarket
7th The Star | Guildford
11th Night and Day | Manchester
12th Voodoo Rooms | Edinburgh
13th Rum Shack | Glasgow
14th Cluny | Newcastle
18th Acapela | Cardiff
19th Albert’s Shed | Shrewsbury
20th Adelphi | Liverpool
21st Amped | Huddersfield
22nd Bodega | Nottingham
27th Greystones | Sheffield
28th Carnglaze Caverns | Liskeard * with Martin Harley, True Strays, Echo Town and James Dixon
Apr 29th Half Moon Putney | London
Tour Tickets on website www.willeandthebandits.com
Salt Roots is due for release Feb 27th
Pre-orders for Salt Roots https://www.
Reina del Mar is OUT NOW on all digital platforms https://hypeddit.com/vfn2b4
