As Thao & The Get Down Stay Down’s leader, vocalist/guitarist Thao Nguyen steered her band through a compelling evolution. The group’s indie-folk-leaning 2008 debut, We Brave Bee Stings and All, and 2013’s spare, country-inspired “Kindness Be Conceived” had appealing rawness, while 2016’s funky, Merrill Garbus-produced A Man Alive—on which Nguyen explored her fraught relationship with her dad—expanded their sound. Thao & The Get Down Stay Down called it a day in 2021 but left a meaningful parting gift with Temple, on which Nguyen delved into her family history and queerness amid polished synth grooves and hip-hop beats.