Back in early 2013, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, the giddy and experimental San Francisco indie-pop project led by Thao Nguyen, released their album We The Common. Early next year, Nguyen and company will follow that one up with A Man Alive, which tUnE-YaRdS mastermind Merrill Garbus produced. Of the new album, Nguyen says, “I wanted A Man Alive to be beat- and bass-driven—rather than guitar-based—extending and elaborating upon the hip-hop influences of the previous record. A Man Alive is more instrumental, more riff- and loop-centric, and has more manipulated sounds.” First single “Nobody Dies” is as explosive and melodically dense as you might expect, given all that. Listen to it below.

A Man Alive is out 3/4 on Ribbon Music.