Khruangbin & Leon Bridges
Texas Moon
Dead Oceans
Mar 21, 2022 Web Exclusive
Khruangbin and Leon Bridges are making short stories, impactful yet ephemeral. Think of their EPs, 2020’s Texas Sun and this year’s Texas Moon, as something akin to specialized mix-drinks, available for one night only, telling engaging tales on a cool, open patio. On their own, the two vibe-setters have both settled into an overcrowded industry with laidback and often engaging grooves. And together, while their delivery can come across as benign, it is often experimental and engagingly fun.
It turns out their first collaboration wasn’t a fluke. On this follow up, the artists have doubled down on something that, while not taking too many creative risks, largely hits a vibe in consistently stimulating ways. They make warm, classy jams that flow in and through your soul, neither taking nor really leaving too much.
On “B-side,” there’s a groovy, falsetto-drenched jam which delightfully climbs into shifting beats throughout. It would’ve been a more generic groove from Khruangbin, if not for Bridges’ beyond smooth vocals adding an simmering melody. “Mariella” finds the band and Bridges creating something really special. It’s a unique piece in each’s catalog, featuring a more up-tempo beat steeped in midnight haze. With an almost indie riff, washy, tidal guitars and a compressed, tinny drum, it sticks in your head long after the record finishes.
No one’s letting fully loose on Texas Moon, though. It has a reservation that almost stifles each artist in their respective projects. Take “Chocolate Hills,” a smoky late-night ballad which could soar with more lock from Khruangbin’s rhythm section or at least more fire from Bridges. On this one, his vocals are relatively bare, but the instrumentals overcrowd any sexiness that wants to break out. It could use a peeling back, or a full bed sheet layout.
Not a sequel as much as the photographic negative to Texas Sun, the EP is a collaboration that works best when it accents each group, finding something neither touch on their own. It can struggle for takeoff, but at times it channels Chaka Khan & Rufus in a hidden wink, a kiss, and the smoothed edges of a desert night. (www.khruangbin.com) (www.leonbridges.com)
Author rating: 7/10
Average reader rating: 5/10
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