Khruangbin – A LA SALA (LP Vinyl)
Review
Above all else, Khruangbin are vibe masters—as chic as a high-end perfume ad, as luxuriously chill as a post-edible nap on a pleasure cruise. But what makes them special is the grit, the hiss, the natural reverb—all of the human touches that have helped them seamlessly build from an obscure, free-flowing, globally minded psych-rock band into a tastemaking big-deal festival draw with high-profile collaborations (a pair of killer EPs with Leon Bridges) and grooves warm enough to soundtrack Miller Lite ads. That arc, perhaps predictably, yielded the wider breakthrough of 2020's Mordechai, their third full-length set and first with prominent vocals—and as evidenced by "Time (You and I)" and "So We Won't Forget," they could have keep cruising comfortably down that hooky highway. Instead, with follow-up A La Sala, they've pivoted back to more raw, stripped-down arrangements, mostly prioritizing atmosphere over conventional songcraft. But who could possibly complain? Khruangbin utilize just about all of their favorite tools: Mark Speer's surf-rock reverb pairs nicely with Laura Lee's purring bass on "Fifteen Fifty-Three," while "Hold Me Up (Thank You)" is pocket-funk perfection, with a barely there vocal gliding over Lee's percolating bass, Speer's slippery guitar reverb and DJ Johnson's minimalist drumming, veering into Latin territory in the B-section. Yet, the centerpiece is "May Ninth," a smiling but tear-streaked psych-soul pitter-patter—like strolling through the park on a spring day, with a storm cloud on the horizon. The vibe has never been thicker.
— Ryan Reed, Relix
Product Details
Rooted in the same Houston rehearsal space where the trio first developed their signature blend of global sounds, from Thai funk and dub to Lebanese psych and cumbia, Khruangbin have always made music that feels like a late-night drive through somewhere you've never been. A La Sala pulls back the curtain just slightly, capturing the band in their most intimate configuration yet, a document of three players who have spent years learning exactly when to leave space.
Khruangbin’s fourth studio album, A La Sala (“To the Room” inSpanish), is an exercise in returning in order to go further, anddoing so on your own terms. It continues the mystery and sanctitythat is the key to how bassist Laura Lee Ochoa, drummer Donald“DJ” Johnson, Jr. and guitarist Mark “Marko” Speer approach music.If 2020’s Mordechai, the last studio LP Khruangbin made withoutcollaborators, was a party record that enhanced the band’s musicalreputation far and wide, then A La Sala is the measured morningafter. It’s a gorgeously airy record completed only in the companyof the group’s longtime engineer Steve Christensen, with minimaloverdubs. It’s a window onto the bounties powering Khruangbin’svision, a reimagining and refueling for the long haul ahead. A LaSala scales Khruangbin down to scale up, a creative strategy withthe future in mind.
The trio’s collective musical DNA, the years spent constructing itin Houston’s local-meets-global cultural stew, ensures the bandcontinues to sound like no one but itself. A cascade of crispmelodies emanates from Marko’s reverb-heavy electric, dancinggently around Laura Lee’s minimalist almost-dub bass triangles,while DJ’s drums serve as the tightened-up pocket and unwaveringdance-floor on which all this movement takes place. Yet there’s afreshness to A La Sala’s instrumental interactivity, less concernedwith getting further out than going deeper in, a profound desire tocelebrate the world’s external wonders. Where prior albums strivedtowards music’s polyglot edges, such inquiries now sound likebeloved intimacies. Here, Khruangbin’s sonic touch-points —whether spaghetti-western film scores (on “Fifteen Fifty-Three”),West African discos (on “Pon Pón”), G-funk fantasias (“TodavíaViva”), living room dancing moments (the first single, “A LoveInternational”), or even ambient found-sounds (on “Farolim deFelgueiras and throughout the album”) — are ingrainedcharacteristics. This is who they are! Unique and huge (andgrowing), ambitious and driven.
Khruangbin’s aspirations and commitment to playful creativityeven extends to A La Sala’s vinyl packages, of which there will beseven distinctive covers and color-sets. Designed by the bandusing Marko’s multitude of travelog photos, the images arewindows from the band’s living room onto a set of daydreams,scenes of impossible skies, external glances that illuminate what isgoing on inside. Each cover image comes with a matching colorvinyl. These too are all about looking out and looking back, in orderto better look ahead.
Tracklist
Side A
Side B
UPC: 656605165714
Label: Dead Oceans
Release Date: 4.5.24
Format: LP Vinyl