The Fat Angel Sings

There’s softness in the trippy funk of Khruangbin’s “White Gloves” that has wrapped around me, and I have no intention of letting it go. Delicate psychedelics spin into velvety rock that’s rooted in ’60s Thai funk and surf music. It might not be what you’d expect from a primarily instrumental Houston trio, two of whose members started out playing gospel music together, but it works.

“This is the first song with lyrics we’ve ever written. We never really thought of ourselves as having a “singer” but we knew that we wanted a voice for Khruangbin. We decided to write about something close to us, tell a story as simply as possible, and sing it together. We created the footage for ‘White Gloves’ many years ago by creating a video feedback loop with a vhs camera and an old television. We always wanted to use it in some way with Khruangbin, and after all of this time, it found what it was missing. It lets the story and the song speak for themselves. ” – Khruangbin

Even the name Khruangbin, which means “engine fly” in Thai, adds another color to the band’s story and sound. After discovering the group through its contribution to Bonobo’s Late Night Tales compilation, I have Khruangbin’s debut album,The Universe Smiles Upon You, in my personal heavy rotation