Khruangbins fourth studio album, A La Sala (To the Room in Spanish), is an exercise in returning in order to go further, and doing so on your own terms. It continues the mystery and sanctity that is the key to how bassist Laura Lee Ochoa, drummer Donald DJ Johnson, Jr., and guitarist Mark Marko Speer approach music.

The trios collective musical DNA, the years spent constructing it in Houstons local-meets-global cultural stew, ensures the band continues to sound like no one but itself. A cascade of crisp melodies emanates from Markos reverb-heavy electric, dancing gently around Laura Lees minimalist almost-dub bass triangles, while DJs drums serve as the tightened-up pocket and unwavering dance-floor on which all this movement takes place. Yet theres a freshness to A La Salas instrumental interactivity, less concerned with getting further out than going deeper in, a profound desire to celebrate the worlds external wonders. Wher