Texas Moon

Khruangbin and fellow Texan Leon Bridges get on so well that they refer to their association in familial terms, so its no surprise that they reconvened in Houston to knock out a sequel (or flipside) to Texas Sun. Released almost exactly two years after that EP, Texas Moon is spacier and a little moodier, and Bridges writing this time gets as personal and spiritual as it does in his solo work. "Doris," addressed to Bridges grandmother from his fathers warmhearted perspective, has been in the singers repertoire for at least seven years. It finally finds a home here as a wafting, star-speckled ballad. The greyscale-hued "Father Father" is so penitent and humbled that listening to it seems intrusive. "Chocolate Hills" and "Mariella," the romantic numbers, are all about escape and companionship with verses full of thoughtful imagery. The tempo is temporarily increased on "B-Side," where longing and desire flow out of a precise funk groove made for a dimly lit dancefloor. Augmented as usual by Will Van Horn on pedal steel, Khruangbin keep it economical at a stringent level -- sometimes as if theyre trying to see how little they can play. The results are nonetheless fulfilling. ~ Andy Kellman

前作『Texas Sun』をリリースした2020年の時点ですでにそれぞれ確固たる地位を確立しており、話題となったクルアンビンとリオン・ブリッジズのコラボだが、その年にオバマ元大統領による恒例のプレイリストに選曲されたことでさらに注目を集めることとなった。今作はその続編となる5曲入りの第2弾EP であり、ファンクやソウル、カントリーなどさまざまな音が融合したサウンドは、彼らの故郷テキサスへと繋がっている。
bounce (C)長谷川義和