NEW YORK (AP) — If you think your Spotify playlists are a little too long, consider the playlists shared by your members. Khruangbin. Contains 51 hours of songs.
“We try to hear as many different sounds as possible before they all sound the same,” says Mark Speer, the trio’s guitarist and musical explorer, whose collection includes interesting sounds from Thailand to the Middle East. I’m telling you that.
“Mark goes on anthropological research, so we sometimes lose him for short periods of time,” says bassist Laura Lee. Drummer Donald “DJ” Johnson concluded his thoughts by saying, “For quintessential Chinese funk.”
Khruangbin’s exploration of a primarily instrumental sound has recently paid off, with her 2024 album A La Sala reaching the Top 40 of the Billboard 200 and receiving a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist, receiving critical acclaim. gained. It’s not what’s on their mind.
“I think we’re just going to continue to lean into what we do and continue to try to be as much of a silhouette version of ourselves as possible and let the music speak for itself because that’s who we are. “I don’t like being in the spotlight like that,” Lee says.
The Texas trio makes music that’s hard to describe, combining soul, surf rock, psychedelic, and funk, melodic, Afro-pop-inspired, and reverb-heavy with a respect for other cultures. It creates a unique sound. The band’s name is travel-related, with Khruangbin meaning airplane in Thai.
“Mark’s storytelling feels like words, even though there are no words. And my storytelling feels like math, even though there aren’t necessarily numbers. And DJ is somehow a translator between my language and Mark,” says Lee.
They are very collaborative, working in the studio and performing live. leon bridges Two EPs by Paul McCartney, Vieux Farca Touré, and Wu-Tang Clan. childish gambino, Toro y Moi, Men I Trust, etc.
For “A La Sala”, Khruangbin focused on the trio, realizing that he didn’t need anyone else in the studio. They said it was empowering.
“I think because we had just gone through quite a collaborative process, we felt it was important for just the three of us to come together,” Lee says. “When it’s just the three of us, it’s like we take a deep breath and we all sigh.”
Most of their music is instrumental, but they also have ghostly vocals and full-fledged lyrics, such as “May Ninth” from their new album, which has the lyrics “Memories burnt and faded/Colorful gray.” The song has been adopted.
“Music comes first,” Johnson says. “And then when you’re done putting everything together, if you feel like you need one more thing, or you feel like something’s missing, or you just want some vocal texture, that’s usually the path to adding it.” ”
The trio faced pressure, especially in the early days, from record company executives who liked instrumental music but wanted to add vocals.
“I think it’s just human nature. I don’t think it comes from a bad place,” Lee says. “But people just want to sing on it. And people are used to hearing vocals. They’re like, ‘This sounds really good.’ Let’s add vocals. ”
“A La Sala” is the trio’s fourth studio album. pitchfork saying “Each member of the trio has several opportunities to shine, making each track sound unique, and everything coheres consistently.” It gently resonates and invites the listener into a new imaginative state.”
Although they formed in 2010, Grammy Awards administrators selected Khruangbin alongside Benson Boone as Best New Artist. sabrina carpenter Doechii, RAYE, Chapel Roan, Shabouzi And Teddy Swims. The rules for this category have changed over time and now cover any act that has “achieved breakthrough or prominence.”
The band members view their albums like snapshots in time. If the third track, “Mordechai,” was the energetic and uplifting sound of the band’s constant touring, “A La Sala” is more subdued, born out of the pandemic and meaning “to the room.” It has a title.
It has a more chill sound, even comforting. One song, “Three from Two,” celebrates the birth of Lee’s first child at home. “We needed quiet, and it was nice to be able to put something quiet into a world that isn’t so quiet anymore,” she says.
The band has heard their music played in strange places, with “Texas Sun” becoming a popular song played on TikTok by people hanging out in and around Australia. “Two Fish and an Elephant” I heard this at a yoga studio.
“I hope our music is malleable enough to be passed on to future generations in whatever form it takes,” Speer says. “That’s how language is created. That’s how music happens, that’s how culture happens. So I’m really into it.”
I don’t know what direction the next album will go in, but I have a lot of ideas, including typical Chinese funk.
“Our folders are full of things that may or may not see the light of day, and they keep growing,” Speer says. “When the time is right, the time will come. And if it’s not the time, it’s not the time. Don’t push yourself too hard and move on to the next thing.”
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The 67th Annual Grammy Awards will be held on February 2, 2025 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The show will air on CBS and stream on Paramount+. For more information, please visit: https://apnews.com/hub/grammy-awards.
