Kevin Bronson on February 10th, 2014

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There’s a healthy dose of sleek, old-school funk-soul in the music of Tien Nguyen, the 26-year-old songwriter simply going by the name Tien. And maybe you’ll hear a little bit of Brazil, too, with Tien having spent time between South American beaches and southern California. The Maryland native and son of Vietnamese immigrants has been in L.A. working with producers Gueorgui I. Linev and Peter Potyondy (both of Kan Wakan) on his fan-funded debut EP, “Invitation.” The twinkling “Peaceful, Patient” will give fans of Stevie Wonder and Mayer Hawthorne a tingle; Tien sounds so optimistic here you’d think it was the sunny 1970s all over again. Maybe it is.

||| Stream: “Peaceful, Patient”

||| Live: Tien opens for Kan Wakan tonight at the Echoplex.