THE UNIVERSE SMILES UPON YOU

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Dearest Alfred’ brings to life Lee’s grandfather’s heartbreaking words to his twin brother (“ Can you imagine my joy / I received / Your wonderful letter”) while ‘So We Won’t Forget’ is a cry for the memory of love. ‘If There Is No Question’ sees Lee hypnotically repeat “You’re Not Crazy” over a captivating gospel beat, the kind performed by Speer and Johnson in church. The album’s irresistible closer, ‘Shida’, brings to mind British soul group Sade, with slight vocal sighs gently placed within the grooves of an alluring guitar-centric melody. The Universe Smiles Upon You” has that rare quality of being able to be played in a loop without it growing old. It just spins with the tranquility of Earth in the quiet vastness of outer space as time becomes indefinite and we become connected to the farthest reaches of universe. It is impossible to hang that art neatly in frame in your house, so you gotta go out and experience it for yourself. Everything we’ve written and recorded has been out in the barn, and I think when you have the ability to record in a space like that… how could you not? It feels like the band’s home, and the spaciousness of the countryside gives off an incredible feeling and a certain sense of natural environment that I hope comes through in the record. Is the sound on Universe what the group strived for from the outset, or is it something that developed over time? How has that evolved?

The album truly has a universal feel to it as it is not grounded to any particular time period or style. Guitarist Mark Speer and drummer Donald Johnson played gospel music together in Houston before incorporating bassist Laura Lee into the fold. As a trio, the band continued to search out interestingly good music, and they fell in love with the musings of Thai-funk from the 1960s and 1970s. Thai-funk by the way of Houston gospel is certainly a psychedelic concoction, but you can hear how well the band has blended those two influences together on the serene closer “Zionsville” or “Two Fish and an Elephant,” which breezes by with the calm of the ocean at sunset. Several of the songs use field recordings from your and Mark’s travels. Were they recorded with the intention of being used in your music? Why did you choose to record the moments that you did? That sense of home remains more important than ever for Khruangbin, as bassist Laura Lee recently relocated to London while guitarist Mark Speer and drummer Donald Johnson remain in Houston. The extent of the band’s crate-digging is evident throughout their work. Initially paying homage to ‘60s Thai funk, which they discovered through a blog, and rooting themselves in the American soul and funk from ‘60s and ‘70s – especially The Isley Brothers – Khruangbin continued to broaden their horizons. Iranian post-disco – especially artists such as Googoosh, Sharam Shabpareh, Kourosh Yaghmaei – were instrumental influences in ‘Con Todo El Mundo’.On ‘Mordechai’, hints of music from around the globe underline the album’s groove-laden environment. Weaving Indian folk music, Jamaican dub, Congolese syncopated guitars with reference points to the South Asian musical innovation from the ‘70s and ‘80s, the trio have made an album still very much rooted in the city they call home. And just how a painting can give you a glimpse into the fabulous world of the artist, music can provide a little snapshot of the world of the musicians who made it. You listen to an album and it this place the musicians have created and it calls to you from behind the speakers. But, it is usually merely a window to those delightful places, something you can see and hear but you can’t experience it. Neither Mark nor I wanted to be a "singer" in the traditional sense, so we thought that we’d sing collectively to create a more psychedelic sound, and it seems fitting as we write the lyrics together. It feels right to sing together, and we’re really fond of the result. However, some albums are such obvious products of their environments they manage to transport you right into the world of the artist. Houston trio Khruangbin, recorded its pastoral debut album, “The Universe Smiles Upon You,” in a barn out in the 300-person town of Burton, Texas, far away from the lights, noises and distractions of modern life. As the band explained to Impose Magazine, the barn, “creates a sense of spaciousness, serenity, and creative freedom. It’s a crucial member of the band.” Every time I have put on “The Universe Smiles Upon You,” I have taken a 40-minute trip to that isolated sanctuary and have been able to gaze up into the beauty of the night sky and feel an overriding sense of connection to something tangible but inexplicable. No wonder Khruangbin, who make psychedelic music that travels between eras and continents, have become low-key stars in the past decade. Guitarist Mark Speer and drummer Donald “DJ” Johnson played in a gospel band together at St. John’s United Methodist Church in downtown Houston – the same church that Beyoncé, Solange and the rest of the Knowles family frequent.

But reducing this music as combination of gospel and Thai-funk is a disservice to the elegant creativeness of this band. This music really is its own unique, vivid world and its meditative undertone allows one to really let go and explore where the music can take you. “Mr. White” sets a perfect tone for the album as you’re tethered to the Earth on Johnson and Lee’s hushed but direct rhythm while you float along in the atmosphere to Speer’s warm, buzzed tones. “Little Joe and Mary” is tender and innocent, Speer’s high-whistling flourishes on his guitar playing with Lee’s bubbling bass line.

Love Khruangbin ?

Khruangbin have continually pointed towards the explosion of funk music that came out of Thailand in the ‘60s and ‘70s as a major source of inspiration; their most recent EP, History of Flight, was a collection of covers featuring some of their favorite Thai musicians. Yet while Mark Speer’s mercurial guitar tones bear a strong resemblance to albums by Thai forbearers like Dao Bandon and The Impossible, particularly on album opener “Mr. White” and the minor-key lurch of “Balls and Pins,” Khruangbin are interested in much more than simply paying homage.