Description
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, the San Francisco-based band fronted by singer and songwriter Thao Nguyen, release their fourth album, A Man Alive, via Ribbon Music.
Following the critical success of We The Common (2013) largely inspired by Thaos volunteer work with the California Coalition for Womens Prisoners and featuring a duet with Joanna Newsom A Man Alive is an evolution in both subject matter and sound. Thao says: I wanted A Man Alive to be beat and bass-driven rather than guitar-based extending and elaborating upon the hip hop influences of the previous record. A Man Alive is more instrumental, more riff and loop-centric, and has more manipulated sounds.
Mostly recorded at Tiny Telephone Studios in San Francisco, A Man Alive was produced by Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards. The songs are often punctuated by handclaps, singalong choruses and ass-shaking beats. While these songs come from a deeply personal origin, they have such an accessible quality that it is easy to imagine an engaged and participatory live audience.
The album presents a fiercely original group sound that is rife with experimentation and playfulness. It demonstrates Thaos development as a songwriter and it achieves that most elusive quality in music to create an album of songs that are dark yet buoyant, tragic yet redemptive, personal yet inclusive.
Marbled vinyl edition available exclusively to independent retailers.
LP formats include a digital download card.
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