Image via Pooneh Ghana //

After releasing their collab EP Texas Sun to critical acclaim last year, Khruangbin and Leon Bridges have plenty more on the way in 2022…

The new track, titled ‘Chocolate Hills’, sees the two acts take a stark left turn to their previous collaborations for what’s one of their most minimal creations yet. Made up of a simple drumline, meditative guitars and steady baseline, the ballad is no doubt designed to let Bridges shine utterly and fully. And shine he does, his emotive vocals treading between R&B and funk as he sits in the pocket of the surrounding instrumentation.

As usual, the collab taps into Texan sub-cultures and genres, paying tribute to soul, funk and R&B as as Bridges sings atop Khruangbin’s psychedelic instrumentation; one that’s reaffirmed by the desert-infused visualiser. It’s a proper a love letter to the South, and it seems there’s plenty more well on the way, with the two acts’ forthcoming EP Texas Moon set to land on February 18th.

Speaking on the minimal nature of the new track, Bridges explains “What I love about that one [‘Chocolate Hills’] is how we went with a bare-bones approach. There’s a time and place for big production, but I love how stripped down it is.”

It’s definitely on the more refined side of the Khruangbin and Leon Bridges discographies, but of course, it works perfectly. Be sure to buy/stream it here and pre-save Texas Moon here.