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After 'Texas Sun,' Leon Bridges and Khruangbin seek solace on 'Texas Moon'
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Leon Bridges and Khruangbin reflect on their second tribute to the sound of the Lone Star state in their upcoming EP, Texas Moon.
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KELSEY SNELL, HOST:
Picture an endless stretch of Texas highway with the sun beating down on you as you drive for miles and miles.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TEXAS SUN")
LEON BRIDGES: (Singing) You say you like the wind blowing through your hair. Come on, roll with me till the sun goes down. Texas sun.
SNELL: That's the image and vibe behind the first collaborative EP by psychedelic trio Khruangbin and soul musician Leon Bridges. Their new EP "Texas Moon" comes out on Friday. The album explores the darker side of the Lone Star State, the place both musical acts call home. Khruangbin's Mark Speer joins us now. Welcome.
MARK SPEER: Hello.
SNELL: And Leon Bridges is with us, as well. Welcome to you.
BRIDGES: What's happening?
SNELL: So "Texas Moon" is a follow-up to your 2020 release, "Texas Sun." You know, together, they tell a really rich story of kind of the musical DNA of your home state. What makes the music of Texas so special?
SPEER: I think it comes from all the different peoples that have called Texas home over the past millennia. From the, quote-unquote, "discovery" of the New World by Columbus until now, we've been with at least six different flags flying over it. And prior to that, you had a lot of Native American tribes, and, you know, they have their own styles of music that have been echoing through what we do since then.
BRIDGES: You know, Texas music is such the wide spectrum. You know, we like to focus on, I guess, the country and blues side of it. And I think for me, as an artist, you know, I try to find, you know, just kind of unprecedented territory within R&B music. And, you know, we're pretty much just trying to cultivate our own sound that's, you know, unique to Texas.
SNELL: That uniqueness and that kind of combining of sounds can be kind of hard to achieve, you know? Is there a track on this EP that you feel, like, really brings those influences all together?
BRIDGES: I mean, I think "Mariella" - it embodies the sound of Texas, those elements of just, like, good storytelling and, you know, you got the, you know, the twang aspect of it in that song.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MARIELLA")
BRIDGES: (Singing) Maybe I'll write a letter from this little old country town, down in Texas. I'll keep it here for you. Mariella, Mariella, Mariella, Mariella.
SNELL: You know, Mark, in the past, a lot of Khruangbin's music has been instrumental or, you know, at least very minimal when it comes to vocals. What was it about working with Leon that made you all kind of want to include that layer to these songs?
SPEER: I think it was just we just really love Leon.
(LAUGHTER)
SPEER: We love hanging out with Leon, and we were on the road with him for a good while a couple years back. And that's really where we connected with him. And it was - what it was was just wanting to explore working with a vocalist and trying a new sound and, you know, a new instrument in the mix. It sometimes can be a challenge to - as a guitar player who's used to playing, like, the lead melody - to, you know, step aside and support Leon and make the song work, because that's really the point.
SNELL: Leon, what drew you to the kind of music that Khruangbin makes? I mean, was that part of the calculation well before you guys were actually making these EPs together?
BRIDGES: Yeah. So I discovered their music on a video shoot. And it was just one of those things that I just - hearing it, I felt compelled to just sing melodies and lyrics over their songs. The chemistry was just perfect.
SNELL: I want to listen to the song "Doris," speaking of chemistry. Let's take a listen here.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DORIS")
BRIDGES: (Singing) If you travel to the other side, Doris, I'll be right here holding your hand. You taught me how to be a real man.
SNELL: Leon, I understand this is about your grandmother. Can you tell me more about this song?
BRIDGES: So, yeah, I wanted to, I guess, write this song from my father's perspective and his final moments, you know, with my grandmother as he, I guess, was transitioning to the other side, you know? And, you know, I wanted to carry on her legacy in that tune. And, you know, being from Texas, I personally gravitate towards, like, kind of slow and deep R&B music. And, you know, if you told me to sit down with a guitar and write a fast song, I'd have a hard time doing that.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DORIS")
BRIDGES: (Singing) Doris, you put up a good, good-looking (ph), good fight.
SNELL: You know, it's such a personal song and such an emotional song. I wonder, Mark, how do you approach that when you're collaborating with somebody who's trying to tell that story? How do you approach your side of bringing the song together?
SPEER: My job in the band is to - is in service to the song. We have a thing in the studio - nothing is sacred except for the song, right? So it doesn't matter how long you took - whatever part. You know, if it doesn't bring something into the song and make it - like, make the song better, then it's just not staying. And the more space you leave the music, the more space there is for the spirit to be there.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DORIS")
BRIDGES: (Singing) Yes, you did.
SNELL: Speaking of the spirit, I hear you both come from gospel backgrounds. How did playing and singing music in church shape your creative process?
BRIDGES: Yeah, I never sang in church, but I got to a certain point in my life where I had a spiritual awakening and I kind of was focused on the path of, like, serving God. And around that same time, I fell in love with guitar and writing. And I just was kind of thinking, like, damn, like, the landscape of gospel music is kind of, like, corny.
(LAUGHTER)
BRIDGES: And so I wanted to kind of write my own, I don't know, just, like, tasteful gospel music.
SPEER: I mean, as for me, I started playing gospel - jeez, I guess at the end of the '90s. As far as, like, developing within that music, I can see where Leon's coming with - a lot of it can be kind of corny, you know? It's almost like cut and paste. Just, like - just an onslaught of, like, riffs for no reason, you know? Unfortunately, that's - there's a large amount of that. But the really good stuff - I mean, the good stuff will, like, move you to tears.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FATHER, FATHER")
BRIDGES: (Singing) Father, father, look at these works that I've done. I present them to you with hopes to gain your attention. Gain your attention.
I think "Father Father" reflects that. And, you know, just, like, that kind of struggle, you know, with our faith is kind of part of the human experience in a way. And we wanted to tell my angle of that.
SPEER: Yeah, I agree. I love that song. That's like a mantra, you know? He's got this conversation going between him and the father. And, dude, that's the other thing about religious music and about this kind of liturgical music. Like, is it metaphoric? Is it literal? There's a lot of openness for interpretation inside of scripture, and that's kind of what makes it awesome is when - I like the mystery of it, you know?
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FATHER, FATHER")
BRIDGES: (Singing) My love is always here for you. You don't have to climb a ladder, bend over backwards to gain my love for you 'cause...
SNELL: That's musician Leon Bridges and Khruangbin's Mark Speer. Their new EP is "Texas Moon." Thanks so much for being with us.
SPEER: Thank you, Kelsey.
BRIDGES: Thanks for having us. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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