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Mar 11, 2020 By Christopher Roberts Photography by Shane McCauley Thao & The Get Down Stay Down

Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, the band led by Thao Nguyen, have announced a new album, Temple, and shared its first single, title track “Temple,” via a video for the track. Temple is due out May 15 via Ribbon Music. Check out the Jonny Look-directed video for “Temple” below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover art, as well as the band’s upcoming tour dates.

A press release promises that Temple “is among Thao’s most open and honest work yet,” adding that it finds 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,” Nguyen says in the press release.

“I have divided myself into so many selves,” Nguyen continues. “I am nervous, but hopeful that in belonging to myself, I can still belong to my family, and my Vietnamese community, especially the elders. 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.”

Nguyen adds: “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 Tracklist:

1. Temple
2. Phenom
3. Lion on the Hunt
4. Pure Cinema
5. Marauders
6. How Could I
7. Disclaim
8. Rational Animal
9. I’ve Got Something
10. Marrow

Thao & The Get Down Stay Down Tour Dates:

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