* En anglais uniquement
A collaboration between singer/songwriter
Amelia Meath of the Appalachian indie folk trio
Mountain Man and electronic producer
Nick Sanborn, who performs under the moniker
Made of Oak and plays bass with rootsy psych-rockers
Megafaun, Durham, North Carolina's
Sylvan Esso craft evocative yet elusive electro-folk-pop confections that encompass the best parts of both artists. The duo issued their eponymous Billboard-charting debut in 2014 and landed a Best Dance/Electronic Album Grammy nomination in 2017 for their sophomore long-player,
What Now. Their inward-looking third full-length effort, 2020's
Free Love, was their third straight album to make the top half of the Billboard 200.
Formed in 2013, a year after
Sanborn presented
Meath with a particularly affecting remix of the
Meath-penned
Mountain Man song "Play It Right," the band released their Partisan Records-issued debut long-player,
Sylvan Esso, in early 2014. The LP cracked the Top 40 on the Billboard 200 on the strength of the singles "Hey Mami" and "Coffee," the latter of which they performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, marking their national television debut. Early 2017 saw the release of two new singles, "Radio" and "Kick Jump Twist," in anticipation of the arrival of their sophomore full-length,
What Now, which appeared later that year and earned a Grammy nomination. After a year of extensive touring, the duo collaborated with tourmates
Collections of Colonies of Bees on a 2018 cover of
Califone's "Funeral Singers."
Two years later, the live album
With arrived, an audio counterpart to a live concert documentary released online around the same time. Later in 2020,
Sylvan Esso issued their third full-length effort, the inward-looking
Free Love, which was nominated for a Best Dance/Electronic Grammy Award at the 2022 ceremony. ~ James Christopher Monger