A Man Alive

Thao Nguyen has found her idiosyncratic match in producer Merrill Garbus (Tune-Yards), who helps bring out the band's weirdest, wildest pop inclinations. A Man Alive giddily jumps from crackling staccato funk ("The Evening") and reverb-soaked garage-punk ("Nobody Dies") to slow-burning psych-folk ("Millionaire") and fuzzy, experimental hip-hop ("Meticulous Bird"). It's all doused in warped synths and effects, but every sound serves its purpose—like the rumbling bass of "Astonished Man" reflecting the weight of the singer's apprehension toward her relationship with her dad, or the loops of "Slash/Burn" circling like a nagging memory.