The Plug’n Play: January (‘24)

January 31, 2024

Illustration by Malaaya Adams

You can listen to the full playlist on Apple Music, Spotify, or Tidal

Throughout the month, Kevin and I select some of our favorite releases. In a lot of ways, this playlist — The Plug’n Play — is an extension of our text thread where we send new music to each other throughout the month. We hope you dig it!

Songs 1-14 were selected by Kevin. Songs 14-24 were selected by me, Stanley. As always, we hope you find a song you like and check out the larger body of work (and don’t put the playlist on shuffle!).

A Love International — Khruangbin

In 2020, Khruangbin — the trio made up of Mark Speer (guitar), Laura Lee (bass), and DJ Johnson (drums) — released their 3rd studio album, Mordechai, an album that mixed Bee Gees-inpired disco with Thai funk and everything else in between. In the years since Mordechai, Khruangbin has released a series of collaboration projects: two EPs with fellow Texan, Leon Bridges and an album with Malian guitarist and volcalist, Vieux Farka Touré, each displaying the bands vast taste and ability.

Earlier this month, Khruangbin released their latest single, A Love International, in preparation for their forthcoming album. In some ways, A Love International feels like a return to their earlier work (Con Todo El Mundo comes to mind for me), while still revealing new elements of the band’s compositional acumen. It’s an exciting start to this new phase for the band!

Everything’s Beautiful — Haitus Kaiyote

Earlier this month Hiatus Kaiyote — the quartet hailing from Australia — left a cryptic message on social media that said “21 Days” with a picture of the cover art listed above. There wasn’t much info, but there was a link for a web address. I clicked the link — which only had space for entering an e-mail address — and signed up. The subject line response was simply said, “Join the Everything.” I was sold. And I didn’t even know what was happening. But the prospect of Hiatus Kaiyote releasing new music was more than enough for me. On January 23rd, the band released their latest single, Everything’s Beautiful — the ultimate delivery on their cryptic message. I haven’t heard much about a new album, but I’d imagine it’s in the works. And I’m ready for it, already working myself into a tizzy about it.