Bleep

Khruangbin have dabbled in dub before. Dub versions of cuts from the band’s 2015 debut LP The Universe Smiles Upon You surfaced on two 2016 EPs, and the video for their single ‘Two Fish And An Elephant’ features a dub rendering of the same track. However, new album Hasta El Cielo is the first time the Texan trio have celebrated their love of dub over the course of a full-length record.

Hasta El Cielo sees Khruangbin dubbing their hugely successful second album, 2018’s Con Todo El Mundo. Con Todo El Mundo was an LP already steeped in dubwise aesthetics, and this means that the originals lend themselves well to reinterpretation. Laura Lee’s bass style has always had a particularly strong dub feel to it - unsurprising given that she learned to play the instrument listening to Scientist’s Scientist Wins The World Cup - and her rocksteady playing helps to anchor Hasta El Cielo as it spirals off into the cosmos.

Many of the tracks here coast along nicely, with Lee’s basslines augmented by delay-drenched drums and little chemtrails of keyboard or guitar. There are moments when the pace picks up - ‘A La Sala’ is a discofied delight - but largely this record remains a chilled, head-nodding affair. Scientist himself surfaces at the back end of Hasta El Cielo with two versions of his own, something that must have been a real pinch-yourself moment for Lee.

Khruangbin go to the moon with Hasta El Cielo, the delightful dubbed-out version of their 2018 LP Con Todo El Mundo.