Thao and the Get Down Stay Down – We the Common

On her third album as Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Thao Nguyen’s nimble genre borrowings pay great dividends. There are touches of porch-front folk on banjo-based sing-along We The Common (for Valerie Bolden); country trail songs on Kindness Be Conceived (a duet with Joanna Newsom); then there's the afrobeat infusions of occasional collaborator Tune-Yards in City’s playful percussion and rolling guitar riff.

Each showcases Nguyen’s manifold songwriting skills and lightness of touch, with her casual ear for melody delivering instant, wide-reaching appeal. Tracks like We Don’t Call (all dancing bass and brass) are warmly familiar on first introductions, but sufficiently multifaceted to hold attentions several listens further down the line – a not inconsiderable feat. It’s not a flawless venture – Holy Roller’s repetitive chorus, for instance, quickly turns leaden – but for the majority of its duration, We the Common conveys a natural charm that’s highly persuasive. [Chris Buckle]