When Sylvan Esso’s self-titled debut dropped in 2014, their electronic songcraft felt novel. It played like a triangulation of digital playground-chants, soul-folk remixes, and sing-song indie-pop. If their early work once scanned as a fusion experiment, it now reflects the science of pop: idiosyncratic, beat-built, and prone to occasional cultural critiques. Their fifth album, Ow ∞, proves that the world has finally caught up with the North Carolina duo, offering a project that speaks to its moment with newfound lucidity.
What has always distinguished the group is Amelia Meath’s voice—a bit scuffed, faintly parched but lithe, and warmly human even when sonically distressed. It is a voice that has become highly sought after, leading to collaborations with artists like Maggie Rogers and Kevin Morby. On Ow ∞, this vocal versatility is front and center, providing an emotional anchor for the album’s unsettled themes.
A Coherent Emotional Arc
Ow ∞ stands out as an especially coherent Sylvan Esso album. It boasts a clearer emotional arc than past sets, with production that feels particularly fine-tuned. Co-pilot Nick Sanborn provides a sonic landscape that gives Meath’s voice the necessary space to shapeshift. The record grapples with of-the-moment quandaries: How does one function amidst a constant flow of current-event horrors? What do we do with our collective rage, and where does self-care end and hedonism begin?
Musical Evolution and Kinetic Energy
The album orbits around several perfectly-conceived tracks. “Entertainment & Coca-Cola” serves as a conflicted pledge-of-allegiance to pleasure, while “Hot Slob” leans into an au courant ’90s alt-rock aesthetic punctuated by ’70s-glam guitar. Perhaps most impressive is “Concrete Glen,” a trip-hop fantasia that transforms a familiar falsetto into a hallucinogenic party anthem.
Nick Sanborn’s production remains key to the band’s success. By utilizing ghost beats and evocative micro-samples, he ensures the record remains kinetic and purposeful. Whether it is the subtle nod to the Incredible Bongo Band on “Back Again” or the blissful exhaustion of “Right to Left,” the duo continues to find salvation in forward motion and shared musical pleasures.
