In the Grammy spotlight, Khruangbin wants to “let the music speak for itself”

NEW YORK — If you think your Spotify playlist is getting a little too long, consider the one shared by members of Khruangbin. It contains 51 hours of songs.

“I try to listen to as many different things as possible before they all start sounding the same,” says Mark Speer, the trio’s guitarist and musical explorer, capturing interesting sounds from Thailand to the Middle East .

“We sometimes lose Mark for a short time because he goes into anthropological research,” says bassist Laura Lee. Drummer Donald “DJ” Johnson finishes his thought: “For the quintessence of Chinese funk.”

Khruangbin’s sonic explorations, primarily instrumental, have paid off in recent times, with a warmly received 2024 album, “A La Sala,” reaching the top 40 on the Billboard 200 and a Grammy nomination for Best New artist. Not that any of this goes to their heads.

“I think we’re just going to continue to lean into what we’re doing and try to be more of the silhouette version of ourselves as much as possible and let the music speak for itself, because that’s who we are. are. We don’t like being in the spotlight like that,” Lee says.

The Texas trio creates music that’s hard to describe, a blend of soul, surf rock, psychedelia and funk that creates a melodic, Afro-pop-inspired, reverb-rich sound with nods to other cultures . The band’s name is fittingly linked to travel: Khruangbin is the Thai word for airplane.

“Mark’s story sounds like words, even though there aren’t any. And my storytelling sounds like math even though there aren’t necessarily numbers. And DJ is sort of the translator between my language and Mark,” says Lee.

They are very collaborative, working in the studio and performing live with Bridges of Léon on two EPs, Paul McCartney, Vieux Farka Touré, Wu-Tang Clan, Childish Gambino, Toro Y Moi, Men I Trust and more.

For “A La Sala,” Khruangbin focused on the trio, realizing they didn’t need anyone else in the studio. They say it was stimulating.

“I think because we had just gone through an intense collaborative process, it felt important for all three of us to stick together,” Lee says. “When there are just three of us, it’s like a deep breath and a collective sigh.”

Most of their music is instrumental, but vocals – whether ghostly or a fully lyrical song – have been used, such as on “May Ninth” from the new album, with the lyrics “Memory burned and gone/A multi-colored gray” .

“Music comes first,” says Johnson. “And when we’re done putting it all together, if we feel like it needs one more thing, something is missing, or we just want some vocal texture, then we usually choose to add it. “

The trio, especially early on, faced pressure from record executives who liked the instrumentals but wanted there to be a vocal on top.

“I think it’s just human nature. I don’t think it’s coming from a bad place,” Lee says. “But people just want to sing over it. And people are used to hearing a voice. They say, “That looks so good.” Let’s add a voice.’

“A La Sala” is the trio’s fourth studio album, featuring Fork saying “Each member of the trio gets multiple opportunities to shine while giving each track an individual sound, and it all comes together cohesively.” The Guardian said Khruangbin made “their complex music so gentle that it lulls the listener into a new state of imagination.”

Although they formed in 2010, Grammy administrators chose Khruangbin as the best new artist nominee alongside Benson Boone, Sabrina Carpentier, Doechii, RAYE, Chappell Roan, Shaboozey and Teddy swims. The rules for the category have changed over time and now allow for the inclusion of any act that has “achieved breakthrough or significance”.

The band members view their albums as snapshots in time. If their third, “Mordechai,” was the sound of energy and movement as the band toured relentlessly, then “A La Sala” is more sedate, born of the pandemic and with a title that means “To the Room “.

It’s a more relaxed, even cozy sound. One song, “Three from Two,” even celebrates the home birth of Lee’s first child. “We needed some calm, and it was nice to release something calm in a world that isn’t so calm anymore,” she says.

The band has heard their music played in the strangest places, like “Texas Sun” which became a popular song played on TikTok by people kissing in Australia or “Two fish and an elephant” heard in yoga studios.

“I hope our music is malleable enough to communicate with future generations, however it works,” Speer says. “This is how language is produced. This is how music is born, this is how cultures are born. So, I’m super interested.

They don’t know what direction their next album will take, but they have plenty of ideas, like perhaps quintessential Chinese funk.

“We have an ever-expanding docket full of things that may or may not see the light of day,” says Speer. “When it’s time, it’s time. And if it’s not the time, it’s not the time. Don’t dig in, move on.

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The 67th Grammy Awards will take place on February 2, 2025 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The show will air on CBS and stream on Paramount+. For more coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/grammy-awards.