No Rules Sandy

『3部作』とされた前作から2年ぶりに発表された4thアルバム!
第64回グラミー賞に前作がノミネートされ、ノース・キャロライナを離れLAに移動するもグラミー・ショーがキャンセル。そのままLAに留まり、小さなスタジオが付いた滞在先の一軒家で一気に制作、レコーディングを行い、僅か3週間で作り上げたという通算4作目のスタジオ・アルバム。
これまでの Sylvan Esso プロジェクトとは違い、自由と解放反溢れた作品!

Sylvan Essos fourth album, 2022s No Rules Sandy, is a charmingly relaxed yet still sonically experimental production that marks a new period of creativity for the North Carolina duo. Technically, the album follows their Grammy-nominated 2020 effort Free Love, which itself marked the end of a trilogy that started with their 2014 self-titled debut and moved through 2017s Grammy-nominated What Now. Those albums were purportedly recorded over long periods of time with much planning and writing. Conversely, No Rules Sandy was produced more loosely in a rented house in Los Angeles where partners Nick Sanborn and Amelia Meath wrote and recorded each song as it came to them in the moment. The result is an album marked by a vibrant spontaneity that retains all of the hallmarks of the sparklingly glitchy electronic pop that made their previous work so compelling. Tracks like "Look at Me," "Didnt Care," and "Sunburn" are effusive, hooky anthems that frame Meaths delicately textured vocals in an organic roboticism marked by shimmering keyboards and chirpy computer sounds. While the digital world is the canvas the couple largely plays in, theyve also woven in analog sounds. Sam Gendel applies his throaty, otherworldly saxophone to "How Did You Know." Similarly, the woozy and romantic "Your Reality" features percussion from TJ Maiani, as well as a chamber string ensemble arranged by Gabriel Kahane. The record ends in a ruminative acoustic ballad, "Coming Back to You," that sounds like Meath and Sanborn recorded it on their back porch; their sunny half-lidded vibe is only briefly shattered when Meaths vocals split into multi-tracked alien harmonies. The album is also punctuated by short, evocatively titled songs including "Bad Fills," "Vegas//Dad," and the title track, quirky musical collages built around offhand home recordings of family and friends that work as interludes throughout the record. Theres a haunted, kaleidoscopic quality to No Rule Sandy that has the feeling of listening to an old phone message from a loved one you might have forgotten, or watching grainy home movies -- familiar, yet new. ~ Matt Collar