Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, the Oakland-based band fronted by singer and songwriter Thao Nguyen, is set to release their fifth studio album Temple on May 15 via Ribbon Music. In celebration of the upcoming album, the band is debuting the title track alongside a video directed by Jonny Look, featuring choreography by Erin S. Murray.
Temple is available to pre-order on CD, limited pressing transparent salmon vinyl with a 24×12 folded poster, and digital download HERE. A limited edition Temple Food Dessert Kit is also available for pre-order with the album at Thao’s merch store HERE. The kit consists of chè, a tri-colored rice pudding with toasted coconut and cashews, prepared by acclaimed chef Diep Tran, the founder of the Banh Chung Collective and former chef and owner of Good Girl Dinette in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. Proceeds from Temple Food Kit sales will go to Alma Backyard Farms, a non-profit creating dynamic opportunities in urban farming. It exists to re-claim lives of formerly incarcerated people, re-purpose urban land into productive urban farm plots, and re-imagine disenfranchised communities in Los Angeles as a hub for transformation.
The band will embark on a full North American tour this summer, including shows at Los Angeles’ Teragram Ballroom (June 25-26) and New York’s Webster Hall (July 28). See below for a complete list of dates; tickets are available athttps://www.thaoandthegetdownstaydown.com .
The album is among Thao’s most open and honest work yet, finding her coming out in her public life after a long career in which she kept her queer identityquiet in an effort to avoid turmoil with and alienation from a family and culture she deeply loves. “But that shit will kill you,” Thao says.“I have divided myself into so many selves. I am nervous, but hopeful that in belonging to myself, I can still belong to my family, and my Vietnamese community, especially the elders.” Shecontinues,“I believe that shame has made my work more general, when I’ve always wanted to be specific. This record is about me finally being specific. If you listen to my music, I want you to know who you are dealing with.”
Thao almost opted not to make another record, feeling that rock music no longer was capable of saying what she needed to express. But it turns out making a record was necessary; it forced her hand to create a space wherein she could finally exist as her entire self. Temple is an album compelled by love and the urgent need to live one full, whole life. Thao and her girlfriend got married recently, and she says, “I have my partner and our home to ground me in this life, in my one life. And everything I do now, everywhere I go, every time I present myself to people, it is finally all of me.”
Temple is the first Get Down Stay Down record to be self-produced. Thao teamed up with longtime bandmate Adam Thompson to produce the record; he shares writing credits on five songs. Mikaelin “Blue” Bluespruce (Solange, Carly Rae Jepsen, Mariah Carey) mixed the record. “Blue mixes more in the hip-hop and pop world and that’s what we wanted,” says Thao. “More fidelity, more upfront beat and groove-heavy mixes that are filled out and immersive…high highs, low lows, lush tones.”
Temple follows Thao & The Get Down Stay Down’s 2016 album A Man Alive, which was released to widespread critical praise. NPR Music called it a “brilliant, jarring new album…[Nguyen’s] most rewarding work yet,” while Pitchfork raved that it is “Nguyen’s most rhythmically robust, gleefully discordant release to date” and Stereogum called it “explosive and melodically dense.” Over the past year, Thao also served as guest host of the acclaimed podcast Song Exploder.
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down Tour Dates
April 8—Eugene. OR—Sessions Music Hall
June 17—Tacoma, WA—Alma Mater
June 18—Vancouver, BC—Imperial
June 19—Seattle, WA—Neptune Theatre
June 20—Portland, OR—Crystal Ballroom
June 22—Sacramento, CA—Harlow’s
June 24—Solana Beach, CA—Belly Up Tavern
June 25—Los Angeles, CA—Teragram Ballroom
June 26—Los Angeles, CA—Teragram Ballroom
June 27—San Francisco, CA—The Fillmore
July 15—Minneapolis, MN—Fine Line
July 16—Chicago, IL—Thalia Hall
July 18 – St.Louis, MO – Ready Room
July 19—Nashville, TN—Mercy Lounge
July 21—Cincinnati, OH—The Woodward Theater
July 22—Millvale, PA—Mr. Smalls Theatre
July 23—Toronto, ON—Longboat Hall
July 24—South Burlington, VT—Higher Ground Ballroom
July 25—Boston, MA—Paradise Rock Club—
July 28—New York, NY—Webster Hall
July 29—Philadelphia, PA—Underground Arts
July 30—Washington, DC—9:30 Club
July 31—Carrboro, NC—Cat’s Cradle
August 1—Atlanta, GA—Terminal West
August 2—Birmingham, AL—Saturn
August 4—Houston, TX—Studio at Warehouse Live
August 5—Austin, TX—Emo’s
August 6—Dallas, TX—Trees
August 7—Oklahoma City, OK—Tower Theatre
August 8—Kansas City, MO—Grinders at XRDS
August 10—Denver, CO—Bluebird Theater
August 11—Salt Lake City, UT—The State Room