Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn, better known as Sylvan Esso, have been bringing their low-key electro-pop to the masses since 2014, bursting onto the scene with their self-titled debut album and the single “Hey Mami.” Over the years, they’ve put out a number of excellent records, dabbling in dustier, more fragile textures on Free Love, going dancier and glitchier on No Rules Sandy. The two are constantly pushing at the edges of their sound while retaining the core of what makes a Sylvan Esso record sound like a Sylvan Esso record.
Their new album Ow ∞, released this past Friday, represents perhaps the boldest reinvention of their sound, however. It’s unabashedly nostalgic-sounding, trading the glitchy modular drums and glossy dance production of Free Love for turn-of-the-century breakbeats and distorted guitars. At times, the songs recall bands like Soul Coughing and Blur, on tracks like “Hot Slob” and “Concrete Glen.” But don’t worry, there’s still plenty of bleeps and bloops and modern vocal production techniques to keep fans of past albums happy.
To celebrate the release of Ow ∞ , Sylvan Esso agreed to answer our weekly questionnaire.
What is your most indispensable tool?
Nick Sanborn: My laptop. I have loved a series of MacBooks dating back to when I graduated from high school and cannot imagine working without one. I am absolutely one of those millennials who despises typing or doing any important work on a touchscreen.
What is one thing you wish you could change about your phone?
NS: I wish it felt like it cared more about me than its creator.
Amelia Meath: I wish the phone was actually a food replicator. So many problems would be solved.
How many tabs do you have open right now?
NS: Eight, which feels a touch low compared to my normal ADHD tab expanse. No pins besides email, though, I like a tabula rasa scene when I open a browser.
What is your happy place online?
NS: I still frequent a version of the old Monome forum, which is generally focused on programming and instrument design. The people there are excellent and interesting and so welcoming and nice. It’s the only place on the internet that feels more positive than detrimental to me.
What is your favorite gadget you’ve ever owned?
AM: I had a T-Mobile Sidekick that I saved up for when I was in high school. It was the coolest phone I have ever owned. I kept my journal on there 😀
What game do you have the fondest memories of?
NS: EarthBound, which was a gorgeous, heartfelt, quirky JRPG on the Super Nintendo that came out in 94. It’s beautiful and strange and full of humanity. I still play it all the way through every few years.
AM: The first Zelda I played was Skyward Sword on the Wii. We lived in a house with a whole bunch of other people, and we would all hang and play together. It was a joy and became my gateway into playing games as an adult. There have been so many others that I have fallen in love with since then — Hollow Knight, Blue Prince, Hades — but Skyward Sword was my first love. So much lore.
Which tech trend do you wish would go away?
AM: The encouragement of apathy.
What is one thing you wish you had created?
NS: I rarely wish I had made something that I already like, since I feel like me making it would have ruined it being what it is in the first place. But I have been dreaming about a really specific thing — an AM/FM radio with an analog tuner that I could control remotely with a computer or sequencer — for literal years. There are many things out there that are close but not quite this, so much so that it’s kinda maddening. I even tried to get a synth tech I work with regularly to help me prototype one, but it never came to fruition. Finally, last year, a small company in Italy started making one, and like four friends sent me the link in a week, that was how endlessly chatty I had been about wanting one. Of course I ordered one, and it’s good, but I still think it could be better lol.
AM: I wish I had the well. What an incredible claim to fame. “I figured out how to store and save water from the table.” I feel like I could stop trying after that.
What do you do when you need to focus?
AM: I go outside and sit. Usually, I have to be writing, so I can take my notebook out. I try to leave my phone inside, but I usually forget!
What do you do when you’re feeling stuck?
NS: I usually find myself stuck when I want something to be good and it just isn’t yet, but I can’t let it go. In that situation, I just have to step away and do something totally different and without consequence, like pulling out an instrument I haven’t used in a while and making something unrelated as spontaneously as I can. I find removing expectations and shifting gears to be really helpful for my headspace when I can’t find a way through whatever has me in a loop.
When was the last time you went somewhere without your phone?
NS: About a month ago, I put my phone through both the washer and dryer, destroying it completely and giving me about a week of pure phoneless existence. It was heaven. Highly recommend.
What’s the last piece of physical media you bought?
AM: I just bought Sheila Heti’s Pure Colour at a bookstand in Brooklyn. It is a beautiful and incredibly surreal read.
What do you think is worth splurging on?
NS: Yogurt. It’s not even that much of a splurge, but I just think good yogurt is utterly transcendent. Deeply underrated delicacy.
What would the tagline for your biopic be?
What’s the last GIF or meme you used?
AM: This is also the last GIF I used!!!
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