MORDECHAI, Khruangbin’s stunning third album from last summer, set the seal on their position in the music world; a critically adored brew of psych, funk, disco, dub and global influences, it was seriously great. Seriously great.
Theyve taken a slight return to one of Mordechai’s most emotive tracks, “Dearest Alfred,” a track we noted our review of the album as having “a fogged-photograph memory haze.
“‘Where are you now? Your letter is the best gift’, Laura intones – the song inspired by a trove of letters her grandfather wrote to his twin brother.”
It has ethereal haze, dubby longing, emotional potency. It’s a highlight of what’s a truly great album in any case.
Strike two: please also find included herein another video, this time of a new, shimmering, off-kilter chillwave mix, courtesy Stones Throw’s Knxwledge. If anything, Knxwledge sends Laura Lee Ochoa’s vocals spinning even further into an astral memoryscape.
“I love doing remixes, so I approached it like everything else,” says Knxwledge. “I try to smooth it out while making it as hard hitting as possible.”
Of Khruangbin, he says simply: “I’m just a fan like everyone else. They are so unique; the sound they have just resonates with the sounds I grew up loving and most influenced by.
“Beautiful progressions with perfect minimal, yet so powerful, lyrics. What more can you ask for?”
Both video clips were made by The Kennedys, a tutored internship program at the creative agency Wieden+Kennedy London. Eight participants came up with ideas and filmed, edited, and animated at home. Cracking results, both.
“In a year where communication has a new spin of importance and focus has been put on the postal service, we wanted to make a video highlighting that sentiment for a song based on letters my grandfather sent to his brother,” says Laura Lee Ochoa.
“Working with The Kennedys, we were able to highlight these feelings from a variety of perspectives and through a variety of mediums–which felt important to the project.
“I’ve been a big fan of The Kennedys since working at W+K, as it gives creatives that lack work experience a chance to gain some amidst the beautiful chaos of real agency life, and feel extremely proud for the opportunity to work with them on such a meaningful project.
“Our Zoom call with them presenting us their ideas for the video was one of my favorite moments of quarantine–I felt incredibly inspired and humbled.
“This project ended up being two-fold: the original video for ‘Dearest Alfred’ and a remixed video for the remix of ‘Dearest Alfred’ by Knxwledge. I love what we made together.”
Khruangbin’s Mordechai is out now on Dead Oceans and Night Time Stories digitally, on CD and vinyl; its a proper treat. You can buy it here.
Follow Khruangbin at their website, on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and at Bandcamp.
