Khruangbin has always been multilingual, weaving far-flung musical languages
like East Asian surf-rock, Persian funk, and Jamaican dub into mellifluous
harmony. But on its third album, it’s finally speaking out loud. Mordechai
features vocals prominently on nearly every song, a first for the mostly
instrumental band. It’s a shift that rewards the risk, reorienting Khruangbin’s
transportive sound toward a new sense of emotional directness, without losing
the spirit of nomadic wandering that’s always defined it. And it all started with
them coming home.
By the summer of 2019, the Houston group—bassist Laura Lee Ochoa, guitarist
Mark Speer, drummer DJ Johnson—had been on tour for nearly three-and-ahalf
years, playing to audiences across North and South America, Europe, and
southeast Asia behind its acclaimed albums The Universe Smiles Upon You and
Con Todo El Mundo. They returned to their farmhouse studio in Burton, Texas,
ready to begin work on their third album. But they were also determined to
slow down, to take their time and luxuriate in building something together.
Musically, the band’s ever-restless ear saw it pulling reference points from
Pakistan, Korea, and West Africa, incorporating strains of Indian chanting
boxes and Congolese syncopated guitar. But more than anything, the album
became a celebration of Houston, the eclectic city that had nurtured them,
and a cultural nexus where you can check out country and zydeco, trap rap, or
avant-garde opera on any given night.
In those years away from home, Khruangbin’s members often felt like they were
swimming underwater, unsure of where they were going, or why they were
going there. But Mordechai leads them gently back to the surface, allowing
them to take a breath, look around, and find itself again. It is a snapshot taken
along a larger journey—a moment all the more beautiful for its impermanence.
And it’s a memory to revisit again and again, speaking to us now more clearly
than ever.
Tracklisting:
Side A
1. First Class
2. Time (You and I)
3. Connaissais de Face
4. Father Bird, Mother Bird
5. If There is No Question
Side B
6. Pelota
7. One to Remember
8. Dearest Alfred
9. So We Won’t Forget
10. Shida
like East Asian surf-rock, Persian funk, and Jamaican dub into mellifluous
harmony. But on its third album, it’s finally speaking out loud. Mordechai
features vocals prominently on nearly every song, a first for the mostly
instrumental band. It’s a shift that rewards the risk, reorienting Khruangbin’s
transportive sound toward a new sense of emotional directness, without losing
the spirit of nomadic wandering that’s always defined it. And it all started with
them coming home.
By the summer of 2019, the Houston group—bassist Laura Lee Ochoa, guitarist
Mark Speer, drummer DJ Johnson—had been on tour for nearly three-and-ahalf
years, playing to audiences across North and South America, Europe, and
southeast Asia behind its acclaimed albums The Universe Smiles Upon You and
Con Todo El Mundo. They returned to their farmhouse studio in Burton, Texas,
ready to begin work on their third album. But they were also determined to
slow down, to take their time and luxuriate in building something together.
Musically, the band’s ever-restless ear saw it pulling reference points from
Pakistan, Korea, and West Africa, incorporating strains of Indian chanting
boxes and Congolese syncopated guitar. But more than anything, the album
became a celebration of Houston, the eclectic city that had nurtured them,
and a cultural nexus where you can check out country and zydeco, trap rap, or
avant-garde opera on any given night.
In those years away from home, Khruangbin’s members often felt like they were
swimming underwater, unsure of where they were going, or why they were
going there. But Mordechai leads them gently back to the surface, allowing
them to take a breath, look around, and find itself again. It is a snapshot taken
along a larger journey—a moment all the more beautiful for its impermanence.
And it’s a memory to revisit again and again, speaking to us now more clearly
than ever.
Tracklisting:
Side A
1. First Class
2. Time (You and I)
3. Connaissais de Face
4. Father Bird, Mother Bird
5. If There is No Question
Side B
6. Pelota
7. One to Remember
8. Dearest Alfred
9. So We Won’t Forget
10. Shida