~ Texas Moon ~

          If you’re from Dallas-Fort Worth, you know Grammy-Award Winner, Leon Bridges. You may know, Khruangbin (I didn’t), a neo-instrumental band from Houston, famous for seamlessly blending different genres and cultures into one. Now, I’m going to have to tell this Texas Tall Tale out of order. This collaborative album opens in the middle of our story. “Texas Moon”, the follow-up EP from “Texas Sun”, has more space, less speed, and an eerie stillness. 

          Leon Bridges brings us to the spark of the album in “Doris”. The song has a heaviness to it. The weight between staying and leaving. There is an internal struggle between recognizing the history and having to let go even if you’re both just victims of circumstance. There is overwhelming loneliness in the wake of these decisions, and with the help of Khruangbin, you can feel the pain of time, slowly passing with each tick. “B-Side” is The Convincing, the desperation to fill a void from “Doris”. The beat quickly turns over and over; there is an earnest, flirtatious, pleading of wanton yearning. Waitin’ for your love You in all the ways In another place, All I’m thinking of. It’s a trance of overwhelming infatuation. 

          The space in this record is more apparent between “B-Side” and “Chocolate Hills”. Something has changed that the listener isn’t secret to. The melody is smoother, hypnotic, and moody. You can hear vacancy in the song, the slowness, without the need to fill pauses. It’s the first ride in a car where you don’t have to fill silence; the two of you can just gaze at the stoplights as they pass in the night. “Father Father” is The Redemption. Khruangbin brings a modern, instrumental melody and marries it with Leon Bridges’ velvet voice. The song seems like a plea for forgiveness, a reminder of devotion, and spiritual responsibility. 

          "Texas Moon" closes with “Mariella”. You can feel the crisp wind creeping in from the cracked windows, the deceptive shadows cast by an earlier sunset, and the miles in the Texas winter. It’s up to the listener to decide if that space is shrinking or growing with every pass of the power line.

~ Texas Sun [ revisited ] ~

          We go back to the beginning of our story, "Texas Sun” is a hazy, road-trip reflection on escapism with the Lone Star State as the backdrop. If you’re not from Texas, the borders of our state seem so intangible until you’re traveling the solitary roads, you become suddenly aware of the vastness. The title track opens, unrushed, like the “miles till” signs you pass by with anticipation and a smidge of letdown. How have you only covered those few miles? The song is building, calmly waiting to arrive.  

          “Midnight” is The Reflection. It’s the fondness of a memory between two people whose time just simply expired. This isn’t a broken-hearted story but there is something still melancholic about it. A taste of bittersweet, like honey and somber, salty tears. “C-Side” immediately stands out from the opening chord, it’s what feels like an organic jam session. And for the first time on "Texas Sun", Leon Bridges isn’t singing in the past tense. There is a thrill in passion and infatuation, God created you in the heavens just for me … Been waiting so long for a woman like you to make me feel so right.

          "Texas Sun" concludes with “Conversion”. Leon Bridges reflects on the personal relationship with his faith, how it has evolved through his life, and his intentionality for the future. Before rebirth, self-forgiveness is necessary to move forward. It’s about choosing to accept and lead with the guidance of something greater. Which is where “Texas Moon” opens.

          Khruangbin provides mesmerizing melodies and Leon Bridges brings the lyrical catharsis of loneliness, fleeting companionship, and spirituality. These EPs are the mental diaries of trying desperately to reconcile actions and consequences with emotions and reality. Texas roads give you a lot to think about even if you’re not running to or from something. The emotional upheaval is just as expansive as the Texas flatland where the soil and the sky meet.