Michael Franti & Spearhead

Published: March 7, 2019, 7 a.m.

Somewhere around 2008, Michael Franti & his band Spearhead rocked the airwaves, charts and a number of movies and TV shows with their reggae-adjacent hits like "Say Hey (I Love You)" and "The Sound Of Sunshine," which also happens to make a fine descriptor for their bright, openhearted tunes. Franti and co. returned with a new album this year, Stay Human Vol. II, which works as something of a sequel to the original 2001 Stay Human. Franti, along with Victoria Canal on keys and Carl Young on bass, breezed in the studio earlier this year to play three songs from the new album ("Nobody Cries Alone," "Stay Human 2" and "The Flower") plus, for the second time at Paste, a stripped-down rendition of their uplifting aforementioned hit "Say Hey (I Love You)." We dare you not to smile while watching.