NEW YORK — If you think maintaining a Spotify playlist is challenging, consider the one created by Khruangbin, which boasts an impressive collection of 51 hours of music.
“I’m aiming to explore a wide range of music before all the sounds start blending together,” notes Mark Speer, the guitarist of the trio, who delves into various genres from Thailand to the Middle East.
“We occasionally lose track of Mark when he’s off indulging in an anthropological discovery,” shares bassist Laura Lee, adding that this sometimes includes explorations of “quintessential Chinese funk.” Drummer Donald “DJ” Johnson humorously reinforces her point.
Recently, the mainly instrumental band has experienced notable success with their newly released 2024 album, “A La Sala,” which has made its way into the top 40 of the Billboard 200 and garnered a Grammy nomination for best new artist. However, the accolades haven’t inflated their egos.
“We intend to continue focusing on our unique sound, remaining as true to ourselves as possible, while allowing the music to convey our message since that embodies who we are. We prefer not to seek out the spotlight,” explains Lee.
The music of this Texas-based trio defies traditional categorization, merging elements of soul, surf rock, psychedelic, and funk to craft a captivating, Afro-pop-inspired, reverb-rich sound that hints at various cultures. Their name, Khruangbin, is a nod to travel, translating to “airplane” in Thai.
“Mark’s way of storytelling feels like he’s using words, even without actual lyrics, while my storytelling is more abstract, almost mathematical,” shares Lee. “D.J. plays the crucial role of bridging our expressions together.”
Collaboration is a significant part of their process, as they’ve worked in the studio and performed alongside notable artists like Leon Bridges, Paul McCartney, Vieux Farka Touré, Wu-Tang Clan, Childish Gambino, Toro Y Moi, and Men I Trust, among others.
In creating “A La Sala,” the band embraced their trio dynamic, discovering that they didn’t need additional artists in the studio, which they found liberating.
“Having recently engaged in several collaborations, we felt a desire to focus only on one another,” Lee says. “Working as a trio felt like taking a deep breath and exhaling as a group.”
While their music is often instrumental, they do include vocals—sometimes ethereal, sometimes more pronounced—as heard in the track “May Ninth” from their latest album, which features the evocative lyrics, “Memory burned and gone/A multicolored gray.”
