When acoustic singer-songwriters ''"pop''" out their sound, there'''s always the risk that they'''ve done so at the expense of their original charms. And so when early reports of Thao Nguyen'''s Kill Rock Stars debut We Brave Bee Stings and All first surfaced and seemed to unanimously stress the record'''s souped-up production values (with mentions of beat-boxing thrown in for good measure), one couldn'''t be blamed for fearing the worst: Brilliantly low-key singer-songwriter changes labels, layers sound into oblivion.
Fear not! A track off We Brave Bee Stings has surfaced, and while it is a step up in production for Nguyen, it also happens to be absolutely irresistible. ''"Beat (Health, Life, and Fire)''" takes (surprise) a tight, deliberate beat, plugs in a backing guitar, and then from there plays it smart '' letting Thao run wild with her gorgeous acoustics and typically spunky lyrical style: ''"Beat my heart / beat my chest / beat the ones who love me the best / oh, how could they be liars / they assure me health, life and fire.''" Nguyen's pop flourishes here seem much less like the evolution of a sound than they do the fleshing-out of a personality that was already there.
We Brave Bee Stings and All drops on 1/29/08. [MP3 at Stereogum]