Credit: Thao & The Get Down Stay Down

What is it: Temple — Thao & The Get Down Stay Down’s 5th album, a banger delivering exemplary smart & groovy beats.

Perfect for: Surviving and thriving in an urban-expansive soundscape.

Thao & The Get Down Stay Down’s music is like a fuzzy-yet-precise art heist unfolding exactly according to plan. Why? Because Nguyen & crew are consistently ready to risk trespass in pursuit of creative liberation. Temple (2020) continues a trajectory that has been scribed across their impressive discography, with lyrics taking us once again into the dark and securely guarded recesses of the heart to recover the best part of what has been hidden away.

With bass-first depth anchoring the soundscape and ethereal vocals intricately decorating the high range, the band produces a sound that brooks no middle-ground compromise. The result is somehow equally at home when played in the dark of night or on bright early mornings, perhaps because the conceptual territory covered is both dangerous and redemptive.

At their best, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down plant flags we might rally around. If you're drawn to keen-eyed assessment and a ferociously intrepid spirit, maybe you'll hear the call as well.

We caught them live at the 9:30 club in D.C., where Thao kicked it in an irreproachable white vinyl rock-god coat! Check out their website or find them on Bandcamp.