Watch Thao & The Get Down Stay Down Perform 'Hand To God' Live In The Studio

The latest record from Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, A Man Alive, is a striking alliance with tUnE-yArDs' electro-pop virtuoso, Merrill Garbus. Garbus, who has been friends with singer-guitarist Thao Nguyen for years, produced the record, bringing a muscular electrified quality to the band's sound. Swirled amid looped samples are Nguyen's startling, personal lyrics. The record, she says, is about her father, who left the family when she was a preteen. The resulting songs find the band stretching in new ways.

"It was really important and a priority," Nguyen said. "Whatever energy was propelling the exploration of this content, that same energy was propelling us to try to make a vibrant, honest record where the sounds fit that level of intensity."

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