Houston band Khruangbin gets back to dreamscape roots on ‘A La Sala’
Beyoncé has dominated the headlines this month with the release of her genrebusting “Cowboy Carter” album. But there’s another act from Houston that dropped a new album at the same time that shouldn’t be overlooked.
The largely instrumental trio Khruangbin has built a surprisingly robust worldwide audience for an enthralling body of work built from the musical bones of surf-rock, spaghetti Westerns, ’60s Asian pop, blues, jazz, Middle Eastern and Latin elements. While its new album, “A La Sala,” doesn’t veer from the sound that has been established with such previous albums as “Mordechai,” “Con Todo El Mundo” and “The Universe Smiles Upon You,” it distills the group’s languid appeal into nearly 40 minutes of pop bliss.
It is entirely appropriate then that the threesome promoted “A La Sala” listening parties at meditative spots around the country, the first of which was held at Rice University’s Skyspace last month. This is music that transports.
The heart of Khruangbin’s sound is, of course, the soulful Stratocaster of guitarist Mark Speer. His liquid, cascading style may owe a debt to the likes of Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler, but he manages to establish his own identity. His high point here is “A Love International,” a track where his guitar spirals skyward like a butterfly in flight.
But concentrating on Speer shouldn’t sideline the work of bassist/vocalist Laura Lee and drummer DJ Johnson, who aren’t flashy but keep the sound rooted in a solid groove. The sultry “Ada Jean,” the jazzy “Pon Pón” and the exquisite “May Ninth” are prime examples on “A La Sala” of where everything comes together.
It is notable that the new album is less varied than the group’s last effort, “Mordechai,” and doesn’t show off any changes wrought from recent collaborations with Leon Bridges or Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Toure. There are fewer vocals this time around and nothing as pop-dance driven as “Time (You and I)” or “So We Won’t Forget.” If anything, “A La Sala” is a return to the roots of “The Universe Smiles Upon You” era. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Khruangbin, on tour this spring and summer, though no Texas dates have yet to be announced, still hasn’t found a true way to translate its live dynamism (such as on the “Live at Sydney Opera House” release) to its studio recordings. One of the high points of any Khruangbin show is the medley of R&B, hip-hop and pop classics from the ’80s/’90s, and it would be great to bring some of that energy from the stage to the studio. Fellow Houstonian Travis Scott told Variety back in 2021 that he is a fan of the group. Maybe working with him could be the next collaboration. Better yet, Bey, are you listening?
But maybe that’s the Khruangbin world in which we have to live and that’s the way it should be. As it stands, no one out there in the pop universe sounds quite like Khruangbin. And if that means propulsive concerts alternating with lulling albums like “A La Sala” that demand dreaming over dancing, so be it.