A La Sala (transl. "To the Room") is the fourth studio album by American musical trio Khruangbin. It was released on April 5, 2024, through Dead Oceans and Night Time Stories.[1]
Background
On the album's title, Laura Lee has said "'A La Sala,' I used to scream it around my house when I was a little girl, to get everybody in the living room; to get my family together. That's kind of what recording the new album felt like. Emotionally there was a desire to get back to square-one between the three of us, to where we came from–in sonics and in feeling."[2]
The album is the band's first without any additional collaborators.[3][4]
Release
On January 16, 2024, the trio announced the album along with its lead single, "A Love International".[5][6][7][8] The single released alongside a music video directed by Scott Dungate.[9][10][11][12] On January 29, 2024, the trio announced the A La Sala Tour in support of the album.[13][14]Hermanos Gutiérrez, John Carroll Kirby, Peter Cat Recording Co., Men I Trust, and Arooj Aftab are joining the tour as openers.[15] The tour is set to begin on April 14, 2024, in Indio and conclude on October 10, 2024, in New Orleans.[16] On February 20, 2024, the album's second single "May Ninth" was released.[17][18][19][20] An animated music video produced by Nathaniel Murphy, Jenny Lucia Mascia, and Jeremy Higgins was also released.[21][22][23] The album's third single, "Pon Pón", was released on March 19, 2024.[24][25] A music video for "Hold Me Up (Thank You)" was released on April 5, 2024.[26][27]
According to the review aggregator Metacritic, A La Sala received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 from 17 critic scores.[29] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.3 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[28]
Ammar Kalia of The Observer wrote that on the album, "each member displays a subtle mastery of their instrument."[36] Writing for Exclaim!, Oliver Crook wrote that the album was "endlessly rewarding".[32]AllMusic's Paul Simpson described the album as "Khruangbin's most stripped-down effort since their debut."[30] On the album's production, Thomas Smith of NME writes: "Each song is appropriately seasoned with dubby beats, field recordings, hooky guitar riffs and basslines, all distinct enough to pique your attention but never dominating space."[35] Jem Aswad of Variety writes that the album "dial[s] back the vocals and making the grooves and sound even more low-key."[41] Nick Seip of Slant Magazine described the album as "largely a retread of Khruangbin's idiosyncratic brand of dubby psychedelia."[39] Writing for The Skinny, Jamie Wilde's review concludes: "Sunshine in music form, A LA SALA is another stellar addition to Khruangbin's blissful repertoire."[38] Evan Haga of Spin writes "The performances are so good, in fact, you sometimes want to divide them into stems."[40] In his review for The Arts Desk, Joe Muggs writes that the album is "rooted in time and space, in the physicality of the musicians playing the sounds, and in the lines of connection and influence that brought them to this precise moment."[31] In the Financial Times' review, Arwa Haider writes that "Khruangbin effortlessly lock into their mid-tempo grooves, though they also seem reluctant to break out of them."[33]
