Khruangbin

A LA SALA is an exercise in returning in order to go further, and doing so on your own terms. It continues the mystery that is the key to how Laura Lee Ochoa, Donald “DJ” Johnson, Jr. and Mark “Marko” Speer approach music. It’s a gorgeously airy record completed in the company of the group’s longtime engineer Steve Christensen, with minimal overdubs. It’s a window onto the bounties powering Khruangbin’s vision, a reimagining and refueling for the long haul ahead. A La Sala scales Khruangbin down to scale up, a creative strategy with the future in mind. The trio’s collective musical DNA, the years spent constructing it in Houston’s cultural stew, ensures the band continues to sound like no one but itself. A cascade of crisp melodies emanates from Marko’s reverb-heavy electric, dancing gently around Laura Lee’s minimalist bass triangles, while DJ’s drums serve as the unwavering dance-floor on which all this movement takes place. There’s a freshness to A LA SALA’s interactivity, less concerned with getting further out than going deeper in, a profound desire to celebrate the world’s external wonders. Here, Khruangbin’s sonic touch-points — spaghetti-western film scores (“Fifteen Fifty-Three”), West African discos (“Pon Pón”), G-funk fantasias (“Todavía Viva”), living room dancing moments (“A Love International”), ambient found-sounds (“Farolim de Felgueiras”) — are ingrained characteristics. This is who they are! Unique and huge (and growing), ambitious and driven.