Khruangbin: Brixton Academy
Khruangbin, Brixton Academy, 3rd December 2019
It was only as we shuffled, sardine-like through the Academy’s doors, huddling alongside some five thousand others, that I realised I had underestimated Khruangbin’s popularity. I should have really anticipated the Texan based trio’s appeal for they are known for their ability to fuse musical inspiration from every corner of the world. The band, whose name translates as the Thai word for aeroplane, are distinctive, not only in their appearance (bassist Laura Lee and guitarist Mark Speer don striking black fringed wigs) but also through their idiosyncratic musical style. They blend relaxed instrumentals with classic soulful sounds, mixing in funky guitar rifts, and then add a smattering of old school hip-hop and house & disco influences for good measure.
Tonight’s sell-out show is set to impress, it being the band’s penultimate before the new year. The stage glitters in the iridescent shimmer of the disco balls as do Lee and Speer whose silver suits catch the rays of the beaming spotlights. The pair move together seamlessly, echoing each other’s notes whilst synchronising with drummer Donald ‘DJ’ Ray’s metronomic beat. For the most part Khruangbin’s albums are laidback and subtle with a psychedelic quality to them, but tonight they deliver an unexpectedly diverse performance. They shift in tempo at regular intervals grooving from smoother tracks like Two Fish And An Elephant, Lady and Man and White Gloves to funkier classics People Everywhere and Evan Finds the Third Room in between tapping out rhythms on beer bottles and, in a nod to the season incorporating their cover of Last Christmas into the encore.
It is the variety of their performance that is the key to their success on stage, the show is a spectacle in every sense, engaging the audience with every note and flash of light. They draw the evening to a close and are met with roaring rounds of applause, I look round, observing the harmony of cheers from the crowd and see that it really is Khruangbin’s eclecticism shining through tonight.
Cover art by @bo.matteini