Khruangbin & Leon Bridges - Texas Sun (Black Vinyl)
These past few years, Bridges and Khruangbin — formed of Lee, guitarist Mark Speer, and drummer Donald “DJ” Johnson — have seen little of Texas outside of studio walls. Both had been touring nonstop behind their acclaimed sophomore LPs when their paths converged for a joint North American tour in 2018, a run of shows stretching from Los Angeles to New York—much of it buffeted by the kinds of cold winds Bridges sings of on “Texas Sun.” Their musical lanes were slightly different: Bridges, steeped in the smooth sensuality of ’90s R&B and country’s emotional clarity; Khruangbin, exploring the exotic wilds of global funk and spaced-out dub. Still, they shared a dusty, laidback vibe, and when a Khruangbin session yielded a song that seemed like it might pair well with Bridges’ voice, the band sent it over. As Lee tells it, Bridges returned the track with his vocals the very next day. They all soon decamped to the studio with engineer Steve Christensen, hoping to make it into a B-side. But everything flowed so naturally, it was obvious this would be something bigger.
- 1. Texas Sun
- 2. Midnight
- 3. C-Side
- 4. Conversion
