wants you to have a good time, and maybe think a little while you're at it. The band's laid-back but emphatic embrace of funk, soul, rock, Tropicália, and other Latin flavors, all viewed through the psychedelic twinkle in their eyes, makes for music that's richly pleasurable, but they also have things on their mind, and they don't mind sharing their thoughts while they're making the music flow. On their early albums, sounded tight and confident in the studio, but the production had a naturalistic, organic feel. For 2024's , the band has opted to add a little gloss to the presentation, moving the party from the community center to the club downtown with the big sound system. The sessions were produced by , whose previous credits run from and to , and with him at the controls, vintage keyboards and drum machines play a bigger role in the arrangements (ex-drummer is conspicuous in his absence here), elegant string arrangements appear on several tracks, and the audio has a clean snap that makes the performances pop from the speakers. (The notable exception is "Losing My Mind," which recalls an early-'80s new wave single, complete with a ticky low-tech rhythm machine.) This sacrifices just a bit of the funk from these tracks, but the group adapts well to the circumstances, and the sassy strut of "Live Today," the guitar-driven raunch of "Beautiful Daughter," the Latin disco pulse of "Fly," and the electronic R&B sheen of the title track all sound like they could have come from no other band. While the lyrics lean toward the philosophical rather than the political, their rejection of apathy, advocacy of perseverance, and pride in their culture adds up to a message well worth hearing. Which is a great match for an album worthy of your attention, and a successful experiment from an important American band. ~ Mark Deming