Thrumming crackling atmosphere, the ninth studio album from Tucson duo Calexico delves deeper into the prickly wilderness of desert terrain. A daunting 22 tracks, The Thread That Keeps Us undulates pop, Americana, folk, Latin, and dusty instrumental interludes. “Under the Wheels” punctuates easy listening with bursts of brass, “Flores y Tamales” cumbias en Español, and “Dead in the Water” swaggers riff-heavy rock. Syrupy romanticism, “The Town & Miss Lorraine” conjures Sixties pop. Hazy, painterly, and completely unpredictable, it’s all veiled in a unifying mellowness. (Fri. 20, 8:45pm, Original Black’s BBQ Stage)

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This article appears in April 20 • 2018.

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