Album Review - Khruangbin - Mordechai

     Today, I will be reviewing the album Mordechai by Khruangbin. First thing's first, I wanted to ensure that everyone knows how to pronounce the group's name since I have had trouble figuring it out. According to IndiShuffle.com : It is : "Pronounced “Kroongbin,” the name is meant to symbolize the band’s quest to include as many different international influences into their sound as possible, drawing from Thai, Spanish and middle-eastern influences, giving the band their instantly-recognizable and hauntingly psychedelic sound." The band itself Khruangbin is a Houston, Texas based trio that is known for their ecclectic sound. Mordechai is their third studio album to date and it was released under the Dead Oceans/Night Time Stories Label. Without further ado, let's jump into the tracks. 

    The album starts off with 'First Class' and the song is just that. It's creative use of wavy guitar, heavy bass, drums, bongo, xylophone, and soundscapes as instruments makes for an extremely easy, jazzy and funky listen. The only words we hear in the song are 'Champagne', 'First Class', 'Solamente' and 'H-Town' representing Houston. Then we move on to the groovy single off the album 'Time (You and I)' , a little heavier on the lyrics, pedal to the metal on the groove. Wavy guitar riffs, basic drums and a methodical groovy bass line all accentuate the echo-full singing and psychedelic theme of the song. There is no wonder that the song was picked as the single. After you think the song is over at around 3 minutes, we get a dynamic arpeggio build up and the song picks up speed. We then hear a faint wavy guitar solo that just oozes groove. We even hear a partnering of triangle sounds and tabla over the solo. 

    We then move on to 'Connaissais de Face' which translates from French to 'Knew from the Front (Face)'. The song starts off with Mark Speer and Laura Lee, both members of the band speaking over what sounds like an Southeast Asian influenced melody with guitar, cowbells, tambourine, a minimoog, conga, bass and drums. They then move on to the chorus which is sung completely in French, further emphasizing their global influences and cultural openness in their music by dedicating this song to a bartender Stacy that they knew at the bar the band used to hang out in Houston. Stacy knew these people from their faces basically, referring to the people they are talking about in their spoken word dialogue. The next song is easily my favorite on this whole album, 'Father Bird, Mother Bird'. It is completely an instrumental showcasing Speer's range on guitar, vibraslap, cowbell, conga and mellotron, while Lee crushes it on the bass and Donald 'DJ' Johnson mesmerizes on the drumkit. 

    The song perfectly segues into the next track 'If There Is No Question' with the same people on the same instruments as before, with the additions of Lee singing, Will Van Horn on the pedal steel guitar and Cleo Sample on the Hammond organ. The song takes you on a journey while the guitar is consistently serenading you. There is so much going on with so many instruments but they always make it sound so simple. The next song 'Pelota' which traditionally is a Basque or Spanish game played in a walled court with a ball and basket-like rackets fastened to the hand, but it is colloquially used to just say ball in Spanish. The song itself has that quintessential Spanish Rumba and Flamenco sound and is sung completely in Spanish. Speer's guitar is inspired by Haitian Kompas and Conjunto Tejano. The song chorus basically is Lee singing that she wants to be a ball. It is as fun as it is catchy. Both puns intended. Speer's solo over the fast claps is easily my favorite part of the song as well as the fact that Lee and Speers both method acted and had a glass of tequila while recording and you can even hear their glasses clinking during a cheers. 

    'One To Remember' is also exactly just that. A song to remember. Reggae and Dub-influenced smooth guitar, simple bass line, and a heavy echo that surrounds the whole canvas makes this journey of a song well worth remembering and acts as a foreshadow to a later song. 'Dearest Alfred' comes on next and invites the listen to just keep guessing who is Alfred? As the song progresses and the mood sets, we understand that he is someone that brings joy to their life. Turns out that this song is inspired by the art of penmanship and the personal nature of letter writing. It came after Lee received a memory box of letters which her grandfather had written to his twin brothers- Alfred and Ernest. They took words from those letters and created the lyrics for this song. 

    'So We Won't Forget' is merely a continuation and expansion of 'One To Remember'. Seems to be a theme there where they move on from a somber 'One To Remember' to a more upbeat and groovy 'So We Won't Forget'. They definitely won't forget telling people that they love that they love them as they are quoted in Rolling Stone saying "Memory is a powerful thing. Now more than ever it’s important to tell the people you love that you love them, so that they don’t forget." As the band suggests in their Spotify storyline of this song, the song was originally in E Major and then it was switched to D Major (complete opposite of 'Time (You and I)'), because of that Lee had to re-learn her bass part which she had written months ago, she recorded it in one take. Other notable mentions are inspirations for Speer's guitar come from the music of Franco Luambo, the bass and drums during the break-down are inspired by bands like Liquid Liquid and the Jellys.  

    The final song 'Shida' is dedicated to an Iranian woman the band met on their travels in Portland. They described her story as one with 'adventure, love, heartbreak, beauty and tragedy'. They tried to sum her up by just whispering her name in the song. It comes across extremely beautifully with Speer just killing it on the guitar as per usual.

    The album is an amazing collection and combination of sounds and words from around the world. Global in every meaning of the word. Definitely a must listen if you haven't listened, please find the album below. As always, thanks for reading this review and stay tuned for more awesome music!