Khruangbin, Leon Bridges roam the global highway on mellow “Texas Sun”

The collaboration sees the divergent Texans find common, blissful ground

Khruangbin and Leon Bridges hail from Texas, yet they don’t usually sound like what you would associate with the Lone Star state; nor do they sound like each other. The first are leading voices in a transglobal musical movement, fusing funk with sounds from far away, mostly oriental. The latter is a revivalist of pure soul, favouring purism and quality over originality.

This is the first taste of a collaborative EP that they have teased, and as usual with Khruangbin, it brings together the different strands in a way that sounds completely natural. It is a warm laid-back funky groove, with an exotic tinge to the guitars. Leon Bridges sings of cruising on the long, open roads of Texas, caressed by the sun. As one perceptive Youtube viewer commented, it bears an uncanny similarity with a classic by enigmatic Nigerian psy-funkster William Onyeabor, whose pioneering sound-fusion is probably an influence on Khruangbin.

It’s a lush, road trip that references a specific place but can take you anywhere. You need to take that journey.