Lead singer Amelia Meath, who was at the time involved with her trio, Mountain Man, created the vocals to the song called Play It Right. She later met electronic music producer Nick Sanborn, performing at the time solo as Made of Oak[5], and asked him to make a rendering of her single, Play It Right, in his own way. From 2012 to 2013, the band slowly formed, with all of their songs being recorded in Nick Sanborn's apartment bedroom. Sanborn expressed that his music "sync[ed] seamlessly with Meath's melodies, so that the respective words and beats bec[ame] a string of read-to-play singles."[6]
Sylvan Esso is the group's eponymous debut studio album, released May 12, 2014 (2014-05-12) via Partisan Records.[1] The album reached #39 on the Billboard 200 and #7 on the Independent Albums chart,[7] and as of November 2014 has sold 39,000 copies.[8]The band has been well received as they continue to tour across the United States, Canada, and Parts of Europe with songs like "Hey Mami" being named Paste Magazines #1 song of 2014
Band Members
Amelia Meath: Vocals
Nick Sanborn: Instrumentals, production
Sound
As Sylvan Esso is a mix of two very different genres of music, Megafaun (Sandborn's previous band) being described as "an impossible to pinpoint, laid-back lo-fi sound incorporating Byrds-esque harmonies, elegiac folk picking, and off-kilter instrumentation"[9] and Mountain Man (Meath's previous band) begin described as "nestled in the tradition of American folk, but shoots like diamond dust out of the nest into the high, wide atmosphere", one can best describe the groups sound as unique. Given a label, the band falls into the genre of folk pop, indie pop, and electro folk. "Sylvan Esso combines the organic, folk-like qualities of Meath’s vocals with electronic beats and found sounds engineered by Sanborn (bass player for currently-on-hiatus Megafaun). The resulting songs are a satisfying stew that is both rich and sparse."[10]The two accomplish a wide span of tone to their music as well. The songs can range from "...moody and dark, and at others bright and bouncy, grounded by dense, hypnotic beats." The messages in the songs also have a wide span from dealing with being cat called to heart breaking love stories. Meath says, “These songs were meant very specifically to be catchy, to appeal to a wide audience..." The two intentionally attempt to use the voice as an instrument so that it becomes difficult to separate the music from the lyrics.[11]
The band's 1st tour began on December 30th in the Phillip Island, Australia, Phillip Island Circuit (Beyond The Valley). They continued to tour in Australia until their January 3rd show in Northcote, Australia when they then proceeded to play 4 shows int he U.S. (Atlanta,Charlotte, Charlottesville, and New York), then down to Quintana Roo, Mexico. They then crossed back to Europe for the remainder of their tour until March 2nd spanning from Lille to Munich and even to Amsterdam. On March 21st 2015 the two recommenced their tour in Washington. The ends April 25th 2015 in Vancouver.
