NEW ALBUM SEES CRITICAL ACCLAIM FROM
CBS NEWS “SUNDAY MORNING,” STEREOGUM,
THE WASHINGTON POST AND MORE

Temple, the fifth studio album from Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, the Oakland-based band fronted by singer and songwriter Thao Nguyen, is out now on Ribbon Music. Available to stream and purchase at http://smarturl.it/TempleAlbum, the new record is already seeing extensive early critical acclaim:

“[Temple] maintains that punky, funky, wild quality…[Thao] continues
to add new tools to her kit.”

Sunny Award for “Phenom” video

“Thao Nguyen has been making reliably great music for over a decade
now as Thao & The Get Down Stay Down.”

“The global shutdown has met its match in the indie folk-rock band Thao and the Get Down Stay Down. This Oakland-based group has created the finest music video to emerge from our age of isolation.”

“[an] ambitious and heartfelt collection of jagged bops”

“While ‘Phenom’ and the video for it are both standout achievements, there are a plethora of those on Temple. The record, which Nguyen co-produced with longtime band mate, Adam Thompson, showcases Nguyen’s propensity for beat making.”

In celebration of the record, the band has debuted videos for the album tracks “Pure Cinema,”

“Temple”

and “Phenom.”

The “Phenom” video has been hailed by The Washington Post as “the first great Zoom music video,” and Fast Company adds that it is “a fantastic video all on its own, but it’s even better as a harbinger of what’s to come. Thao & The Get Down Stay Down have thrown down the gauntlet to all comers.” The video was also recently honored with a “Sunny Award” on CBS “Sunday Morning.”

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 identity quiet 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.” She continues, “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.”