The tension between loving and leaving has long been a lyrical concern for Thao Nguyen; on early records, she vacillated between pressing for a lover for commitment and striking out on her own. On We the Common (Ribbon), the third studio album from Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Nguyen examines her conflicting urges on a wider scale and finds herself torn about planting roots in a community versus roaming the Earth. “I want to live in towns that touch,” she insists on the sultry “Holy Roller.” “We got it good for all the right reasons / The kind that makes you tired of leaving,” she sings on the gleeful “Every Body.” But though her words are surely sincere, all those banjos and synths are itching for the road. Don’t miss opener Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside, who know a thing or two about making people move.
Sat., March 23, 9 p.m., $15, with Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside, Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St., undergroundarts.org.
