SYLVAN ESSO

A leap into the unknown, accompanied by synthesizers, drums and a big grin. Sylvan Esso herself describes her fifth album “Ow ∞” as an exercise of trust. On the twelve songs, which were released on September 11, 2026 on their own label Psychic Hotline and are presented at the concert in Berlin, catchy melodies and warm harmonies meet chaos, failure and exuberant joy, somewhere between dance floor and dark corner. Amelia Meath describes the title as “a promise, a dream, a decision to continue living even though we continue to be hurt.” It is the attitude of an album that doesn't block out pain, but answers it with wit and danceability. Together with Nick Sanborn, she has used it to build pop music that is comforting and enthralling at the same time.

“Ow ∞” was created over four years in their own studio in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and thus in the longest writing phase the band has ever had for an album. A large part of the songs grew out of improvisations with drummer TJ Maiani and bassist Daniel Aged, while Sanborn sat at the synthesizers and Meath thought about vocal ideas. Six different drummers can be heard on the album, and most tracks retained Meath's first vocal take. The record is opened by “Entertainment & Coca-Cola,” accompanied by the chirping of North Carolinian crickets, which Meath recorded as a voice memo on the iPhone while writing. Among other things, the punk summer hit “Hot Slob” was released beforehand.

The duo's story begins with a remix. Back then, Amelia Meath sang in the trio Mountain Man and asked electronics producer Nick Sanborn, who worked under the name Made of Oak, to rethink her song “Play It Right.” The exchange became a band in 2013, and the self-titled debut album “Sylvan Esso” was released a year later. With “What Now” (2017) and “Free Love” (2020), two albums were nominated for the Grammy in the Best Dance/Electronic Album category, followed by “No Rules Sandy” in 2022. To mark the tenth anniversary, an extended edition of the debut was published in 2024.