Khruangbin Mordechai – 7th Level Music

Review: Khruangbin – Mordechai

Named after a friend of the band, Khruangbin‘s newest album, Mordechai, continues their string of excellent funk / jazz / dub / world music records.

They waste no time in getting to the funk on the first track, “First Class,” with Laura Lee‘s superb bass line backed by Donald Johnson‘s Chex Mix-crisp drums and Mark Speer‘s guitar that sounds like a chattery ghost. “That’s life. If we had more time, we could live together,” Lee sings on “Time (You and I)” – a groovy track that deals with impermanence – a subject many find frightening, but Khruangbin remind us is a beautiful thing. Lee’s vocals on it, and throughout Mordechai, are some of the clearest Khruangbin have ever released. It’s a nice change. I also must mention Johnson’s disco high-hat work throughout the track. It will make you turn your head and say, “Daaaamn!”

“Connaissais de Face” has Lee and a gentleman (Speer?) chatting about old friends and lovers while a happy, sexy jazz tune plays behind them. “Father Bird, Mother Bird” brings in Spanish flavor to Speer’s guitar, providing him with a great instrumental showcase for his talent and those pure tones that he makes sound effortless.

Lee’s vocals on “If There Is No Question” come at you like soft breezes across a veranda across from a New Delhi disco. “You’re wild, but you’re not crazy,” she repeats like a mantra. “Pelota” has Lee singing in Spanish and having a blast doing it and playing a sweet bass groove. “One to Remember” is another mostly instrumental track that is downright hypnotizing.

“Dearest Alfred” has some of Johnson’s snappiest drumming and Lee’s sexiest vocals. “So We Won’t Forget” has a groove that makes you want to dance down the street and not care who’s watching or what might be going on around you. The album ends with the snappy instrumental “Shida,” sending us out on a fun note.

Khruangbin are batting .1000 right now, and I don’t see them missing any pitches soon. If you need something to pick you up during self-isolation, this album’s for you. It’s for all of us.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Pitch Perfect PR.]

Khruangbin’s “Pelota” is another lovely new single from their forthcoming album.

“Through textures of funk, disco and Middle Eastern avant-garde, ‘Mordechai’ is a nostalgic LP that explores human memory. ‘Dearest Alfred’ lionizes the letters that Lee’s grandfather would write to his twin brother, and ‘If There Is No Question’ recalls the gospel songs Speer and Johnson would perform in church. On ‘Shida,’ the album’s sultry closer, Khruangbin turns its attention to the early 1980s, bringing elements of Sade to mind, with gentle vocal sighs floating along the fringes and ethereal guitar chords pinned to the back of the mix.” — The New York Times

“From the French New Wave sounds to ’70s get-down grooves like ‘So We Won’t Forget,’ it looks to be further evidence of the group’s restless creative muse paying off.”
— The A.V. Club, “albums we can’t wait to hear in June”

“Travel and discovery through music has always been at the center of what Khruangbin creates, and Mordechai promises to be another step in the voyage.”
— Paste, “The 10 Albums We’re Most Excited About in June”

Khruangbin – the trio of Laura Lee Ochoa (bass), Mark Speer (guitar), and Donald “DJ” Johnson (drums) – present new single, “Pelota,” alongside its accompanying video, directed by Hugo Rodrigues Rodriguez, written by Alvaro Sotomayor and produced by Glassworks Creative Studio. The track is off of their highly-anticipated new album, Mordechai, out next Friday, June 26th on Dead Oceans in association with Night Time Stories. “Pelota” follows the “bright, soothing” (Rolling Stone) “So We Won’t Forget” and lead single “Time (You and I).” “A Texan band with a Thai name singing a song in Spanish, loosely based on a Japanese movie,” says Khruangbin of the track, which opens with a flurry of guitar and Ochoa, Speer, and Johnson’s sun-tinged unison vocals.

Watch Khruangbin’s Video for “Pelota” –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UULIfPLMuDw

Mordechai comes two years after the release of Khruangbin’s beloved and acclaimed breakthrough, 2018’s Con Todo El Mundo, and was preceded earlier this year by Texas Sun, the group’s collaborative EP with Leon Bridges. As a first for the mostly instrumental band, Mordechai features vocals prominently on nearly every song. 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.

In conjunction with the upcoming release of Mordechai, Khruangbin have also relaunched AirKhruang, their popular flight playlist generator tool that gives fans a platform to enjoy their music curation when travel is not possible. “Shelter In Space” sends listeners on a musical voyage from the safety of their homes by utilizing Spotify’s music attributes to generate custom playlists set for a user-chosen activity and duration.

Watch Video for “So We Won’t Forget” –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo4KMGiy–Y

Watch Video for “Time (You and I)” –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc50wHexbwg

Book A Playlist Curated By Khruangbin Via AirKhruang –
https://space.airkhruang.com

Pre-order Mordechai –
https://khruangbin.ffm.to/mordechai

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe while you’re here.]

[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Khruangbin’s “So We Won’t Forget” is an uplifting track for tough times.

Khruangbin – the trio of Laura Lee Ochoa (bass), Mark Speer (guitar), and Donald “DJ” Johnson (drums) – release new single, “So We Won’t Forget,” a track from their forthcoming album, Mordechai, out June 26th on Dead Oceans, in association with Night Time Stories. In conjunction with today’s announcement, the band also share the new single’s accompanying video, directed by Scott Dungate and co-produced by Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo x Nakama. Following lead singe / video “Time (You and I),” “one of the most immediately likable things that the band has put out” (Stereogum), the lilting “So We Won’t Forget” finds Ochoa filling her apartment with memories she’s scrawled on Post-Its to prevent them slipping away. Over soothing, guitar and light-stepping percussion, the band’s honeyed voices urge in unison: “call me what you want // call me what you need // words don’t have to say // keep it to myself.”

“Memory is a powerful thing,” says Khruangbin. “Now more than ever it’s important to tell the people you love that you love them, so that they don’t forget.”

Watch Video for “So We Won’t Forget” –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo4KMGiy–Y

In conjunction with “So We Won’t Forget,” Khruangbin are pleased to announce the relaunch of AirKhruang, their popular flight playlist generator tool that gives fans a platform to enjoy their music curation when travel is not possible. “Shelter In Space” sends listeners on a musical voyage from the safety of their homes by utilizing Spotify’s music attributes to generate custom playlists set for a user-chosen activity and duration.

Book A Playlist Curated By Khruangbin Via AirKhruang –
https://space.airkhruang.com

Mordechai comes two years after the release of Khruangbin’s beloved and acclaimed breakthrough, 2018’s Con Todo El Mundo, and was preceded earlier this year by Texas Sun, the group’s collaborative EP with Leon Bridges. As a first for the mostly instrumental band, Mordechai features vocals prominently on nearly every song. 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.

The band’s ever-restless ear sees them pulling reference points from Pakistan, Korea, and West Africa, incorporating strains of Indian chanting boxes and Congolese syncopated guitar. But more than anything, Mordechai is a celebration of Houston, the eclectic city that has nurtured them, and a cultural nexus where you can check out country and zydeco, trap rap, or avant-garde opera on any given night. 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.

Watch Video for “Time (You and I)” –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc50wHexbwg

Pre-order Mordechai –
https://khruangbin.ffm.to/mordechai

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe while you’re here.]

[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]