It doesn’t take long to fall for .
In 10-ish months since the Durham, North Carolina duo have released their first album, singer Amelia Meath and producer Nick Sanborn have watched a project — which was started seemingly “on the side” — usurp both of their respective “main” bands in terms of popularity.
Though it’d be easy to cop-out to some sort of computers-vs-guitars narrative, the truth about Sylvan Esso is much more mundane (even refreshingly so).
In Sylvan Esso, Meath and Sanburn have found a working relationship thatap enabling each of them as individuals to create on a higher, collaborative plane. And, as a result, the strength of Sylvan Esso isn’t their “brand”, or either member’s charisma — their strength is their songwriting.
And, though Sylvan Esso are far from the first so-called “electro-folk” singer/synth tandem, they are the sum of their two equally talented parts, with Sanborn’s daring and inventive production framing the same distilled finesse that Meath showcased as a member of the (occasionally a cappella) folk trio Mountain Man.
“You guys!” exclaimed Meath about 10 minutes into their hour-isn long set. “You sold out our show! Thatap crazy!”
The set wove through most of the 10 songs on their 2014 album, with the deepest and most significant drop saved for the tail end of “H.S.K.T.” (the volume of which was enough to knock me off my feet).
Each one of their songs transformed quickly into a sing-a-long, save for the handful of new tracks (which were especially dance-y).
“I’m using this spray on my throat because I’m hoarse from yelling at the TV watching basketball,” Meath told the crowd, as “wooos” emanated from the crowd mid-throat-spray (“I bet that has weed it” said one guy).
It was a short set, due to the limited size of their existing catalogue, but it turned out to be a blessing, giving fans a break from the frenzy of singing and dancing in the Gothic Theatre.
This Sylvan Esso show was a lot like the Sylvan Esso album: immediate and heartfelt, effective and moving, and way better than you’d probably expect. I mean, have you listened to that album yet?
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Jake Blair is a Denver-based writer and regular contributor to Reverb.
