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\n\tDesert Hearts cofounders Mikey Lion, Marbs and Lee Reynolds will tour under the Desert Hearts name this spring and summer, with a new EP by the trio released under the Desert Hearts name also out today (April 29). <\/p>\n
\n\tThis news marks the first time that the founders of the longstanding SoCal-based Desert Hearts festival and musical collective are touring and releasing music under this name. The two-track EP, California<\/em>, is out via Desert Hearts Records. <\/p>\n \n\tThe tour announcement and EP release comes after the November news that the Desert Hearts festival will not be happening in 2026. \u201cWe went into DHF 2025 with the intention of taking a break in 2026, but we ended up throwing the best Desert Hearts ever,\u201d said a November announcement<\/a> from the festival. \u201cIn the afterglow, we went on sale for 2026. When we finally came back down, we realized what throwing a full scale DHF next year meant, and we didn\u2019t like how that looked for our artist paths and personal lives. We sincerely apologize for getting ahead of ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tNow, Desert Hearts co-founder Mikey Lion tells Billboard <\/em>that, \u201cWe made a conscious decision to take 2026 off from producing our annual Desert Hearts Festival so we could refocus on what brought us together in the first place: being artists. Desert Hearts has always been rooted in the music, but over the years the event side naturally took a lot of our energy. 2026 felt like the right moment to shift that balance back. At the same time, we\u2019ve always felt strongest as a crew. Releasing music under the Desert Hearts name is our way of fully embracing that identity while presenting a unified sound and vision.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cCalifornia <\/em>is the foundation of everything we\u2019ve built,\u201d adds Reynolds. \u201cIt\u2019s where the first Desert Hearts parties happened, where the community thrived, and where we really found our identity.\u00a0The DH vibe is uniquely Californian and we wanted to reclaim our roots as we debut as a trio.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cDesert Hearts has always been about love, connection, and freedom of expression through music, art, and community, and we\u2019ve never compromised on that,\u201d continues Marbs. \u201cWe\u2019ve had opportunities to take more traditional routes as we\u2019ve grown, but that\u2019s never been the point. We\u2019re not chasing trends or trying to fit into a system, we\u2019re creating spaces where people can feel something real and connect on a deeper level.\u00a0That intention has stayed the same for over a decade, and it\u2019s the reason our community is still so strong. We protect that above everything.\u201d<\/p>\n