Sylvan Esso

自主レーベルPSYCHIC HOTLINE設立で地元ノースカロライナの音楽シーン盛り上げを目指すSYLVAN ESSO。2014年にリリースしたセルフタイトルのデビュー作がこの自主レーベルより再発!

インディポップ職人として最初の一歩となった本作は、MUMやPANDA BEAR等の流れを汲む唄モノエレクトロニカの最高峰とも言える内容。動画再生回数1000万超えの隙間を多用し必要最低限の音しか用いていない"COFFEE"、本作随一のキャッチーなメロディを持ち大きいスケール感で感動を誘う"PLAY IT RIGHT"と先人達へのリスペクトを挟みながら、2014年当時から現在に続くSYLVAN ESSOのポップ波動が刻まれています。

シンセポップの華やかさよりジンワリコクが来るエレクトロニカのキレが目立つ本作、再発で再び陽の目を浴びるのだろうか!?

The eponymous debut album from the Durham, North Carolina duo of Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn, the former a soulful crooner and songwriter best known as a member of Appalachian indie folk trio Mountain Man and the latter a talented electronic producer and bass player for country-psych rockers Megafaun, couldn't sound any further from the duo's flagship projects. Emitting a heady and evocative blend of breezy, late-night laptop-pop and glitchy metropolitan folk, Sylvan Esso's sophisticated confections fall somewhere between the fractured tabletop buzz of Tune-Yards and the breezy indie pop cinematics of Feist. Standout cuts like "Hey Mami," "H.S.K.T.," and "Coffee" are a tad dark, a bit sexy, and undeniably hypnotic, but they're also accessible (and surprisingly danceable), due in large part to the duo's Southern locale and Meath's laid-back delivery and penchant for penning coy and colorful lyrics. Elsewhere, the seductive "Dreamy Bruises" prowls about on a sleek, arpeggiated Grimes-approved groove, the sparse, gospel-like closer "Come Down" skillfully pairs Mountain Man austerity with ambient pop, and the appropriately named "Wolf" builds to a howling chorus on the strength of a fat synth line, a spare acoustic guitar, and a flurry of ghostly electronic pings, but it's the aforementioned "Coffee" that provides the perfect summation of the duo's strengths. It's both club- and cafe-ready, artsy, cool, and elusive enough to woo the Williamsburg contingency, yet soulful and lightly sweetened with warm Southern honey. ~ James Christopher Monger