Today globetrotting Texan trio Khruangbin release Hasta El Cielo, the band’s glorious dub version of their acclaimed second album Con Todo El Mundo, on July 12th via Dead Oceans/Night Time Stories. The full album has been processed anew along with two bonus dubs by renowned Jamaican producer Scientist. Stream lead single, “Mary Always,” below.
The band’s exotic, spacious, psychedelic funk aligns with the dub treatment particularly well. Indeed, keen fans won’t find this a surprising release. Dubs of tracks from their first album The Universe Smiles Upon You appeared on limited vinyl releases of “People Everywhere” for Record Store Day 2016 and “Zionsville” on the BoogieFuturo remix 12”. The especially eagle-eared will have caught a dub of “Two Fish And An Elephant” playing over the credits of the track’s celebrated video.
“For us, Dub has always felt like a prayer. Spacious, meditative, able to transport the listener to another realm. The first dub albums we listened to were records mixed by Scientist featuring the music of the Roots Radics. Laura Lee learned to play bass by listening to Scientist Wins the World Cup. His unique mixing style, with the emphasis on space and texture, creates the feeling of frozen time; it was hugely influential to us as a band. To be able to work alongside Scientist, a legend in the history of dub, is an honor. This is our dub version of Con Todo El Mundo.” — Khruangbin
Formed of Laura Lee on bass, Mark Speer on guitar, and Donald “DJ” Johnson on drums; Khruangbin’s sounds are rooted in the deepest waters of music from around the world, infused with classic soul, dub and psychedelia. Since the release of Con Todo El Mundo, Khruangbin have continued their almost non-stop approach to touring, playing over 130 dates in 2018 alone, most of them selling out well in advance, including sold-out shows across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Khruangbin closed out 2018 supporting Leon Bridges in North America, and have already graced the stages of numerous festivals this year, including Coachella, Marfa Myths, Fortress Festival, FORM Arcosanti, Lightning in a Bottle, and more.
They’ll kick off their summer tour with select shows in the Northeastern US, including a sold out show at Central Park’s SummerStage in NYC, before heading overseas for festival performances at Green Man, Latitude, Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival and Barclaycard British Summer Time. They’ll return to North American to play Pitchfork Music Festival, Pickathon, Lockn’, and THING. A full list of dates is below.
Khruangbin Tour Dates:
Sat. July 13 – London, UK @ British Summer Time
Sun. July 14 – Moseley, UK @ Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival
Wed. July 17 – Athens, GR @ Ejekt Festival
Thu. July 18 – Bern, CH @ Gurten Festival
Fri. July 19 – Suffolk, UK @ Latitude Festival
Sun. July 21 – Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
Sun. July 28 – Fuji, JP @ Fuji Rocks
Wed. July 31 – Honolulu, HI @ The Republik
Fri. Aug. 2 – Sun. Aug. 4 – Happy Valley, OR @ Pickathon
Sun. Aug. 4 – Kaslo, BC @ Kaslo Jazz Festival
Fri. Aug. 9 – Gothenburg, SE @ Way Out Fest Festival
Thu. Aug. 8 – Sat. Aug. 10 – Rees, DE @ Haldern Pop Festival
Sun. Aug. 11 – Helsinki, FI @ Flow Festival
Tue. Aug. 13 – Budapest, HU @ Sziget Festival
Thu. Aug. 15 – Paredes de Coura, PT @ Paredes de Coura Festival
Thu. Aug. 15 – Sun. Aug. 18 – Brecon Beacons, UK @ Green Man Festival
Thu. Aug. 22 – Sun. Aug. 25 – Arrington, VA @ Lockn’
Fri. Aug. 23 – Miami, FL @ The Ground (DJ Set)
Sat. Aug. 24 – Sun. Aug. 25 – Port Townsend, WA @ THING
Fri. Nov. 15 – São Paulo, BR @ Popload Festival