This oozes with gold.
For those who’ve craved vocal melodies over Khruangbin’s dreamy, Texan soundscapes, it’s your lucky day – with new EP Texas Sun, the band have enlisted the voice of fellow Texan Leon Bridges, and what a voice they’ve chosen to break their instrumental streak.
While Khruangbin typically explore a psychedelic vibe with their sound, and Leon Bridges vintage soul, here they seem tailor-made for each other. Across an achingly teasing four tracks, Leon and the band crisscross the entire state, exploring Southern roots with the buoyant ‘Midnight’, sun-kissed patio sounds on ‘Texas Sun’, and the blistering heat of love on ‘C-Side’.
Fourth and final track ‘Conversion’ is the weary hangover to what’s come before – a six-minute-plus crooner that soothes, yet also leaves you craving more. Every beat and lyric plays out like a frame from a golden-age movie, “Say you wanna hit the highway while the engine roars/Well, come on, roll with me ‘til the sun goes down” Bridges sings on the titular track.
Texas Sun sees two of the Lone Star States’ most endearing acts come together for a celebration of the diverse sounds that make the place so special, like a Coen Brothers film envisioned through a kaleidoscope. But, like a flash in a pan, this collaboration stuns and is then instantly gone. If only the sun was up a little longer.
