Sylvan Esso (10 Year Anniversary Edition)

Liner Notes

Sylvan Esso’s self-titled debut album introduced Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn as one of this century’s most cosmically-bound and unexpected duos, setting them on a path that now encompasses so much more than just their two minds and the endless amount of music they can make together. Out May 17th on their own Psychic Hotline, exactly one decade and five days since Sylvan Esso’s original release, Sylvan Esso (10 Year Anniversary Edition) continues the creative conversation that Meath and Sanborn first captured while recording these songs in a small bedroom studio in Durham, NC.

During the ten years that have passed, Sylvan Esso earned multiple GRAMMY nominations, sold out legendary venues and will soon play Madison Square Garden, launched an independent record label and cultivated a vast, ever-growing community of collaborators, all while forming their “own niche of electro-pop,” says The New York Times. “Transparent yet intricate, airy but serious, fond of pop structures yet eager to bend them.” Sylvan Esso’s immediate streak of irrepressible and instantly recognizable hits – “Coffee,” “Hey Mami,” “Play It Right,” “H.S.K.T.” – represents the thesis of contradictions that continues to guide Meath and Sanborn through the present day: a thoughtful headiness that also pushes one to the dance floor, reflecting on vivid addictions of suffering and love, darkness and deliverance. Sylvan Esso arrived at the juncture of pop and experimental music, and the 10 Year Anniversary Edition illustrates the group’s evolution, impact and range of influences, featuring eight additional tracks of previously unreleased material, remixes by J Rocc, Rick Wade, Helado Negro, Dntel, Hercules and Love Affair and Charles Spearin, and a cover of Porches’ “Cosmos,” all available on DSPs, LP and CD for the first time.

From their respective pasts in bands like Mountain Man and Megafaun, to the serendipitous formation of Sylvan Esso, Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn are two puzzle pieces that fit together with indescribable ease. A shot-in-the-dark of musical chemistry gone right, their self-titled debut delivered “countless different ways of grabbing and inviting attention,” as NPR Music said upon its release. “Sylvan Esso utterly reinvents the already-promising careers at its core. Together, Meath and Sanborn make pop music with real potential to endure: Equally bright and dark, smart and seductive.”

In honor of the record’s ten year anniversary, North Carolina-based indie label Psychic Hotline will release a deluxe reissue, complete with previously unreleased material. The 10 Year Anniversary Edition will be released as a double LP on black & white split vinyl in all-over gold gatefold packaging. The package includes the original album plus new remixes by Rick Wade, Dntel, Helado Negro, Charles Spearin, Hercules And Love Affair, and J Rocc. The olive green online exclusive edition includes a bonus 7″ with fan-favorites “Jaime’s Song” and “The Cosmos” which are available as a physical release for the first time. This bundle is limited to 1000 copies. The 10 Year Anniversary Edition will also be available as a double CD and as a North Carolina Indie Exclusive 2LP that will be limited to 150 copies and only available in North Carolina record stores.

Contributors

• All songs written, recorded and mixed by Sylvan Esso
• Mastering and additional mixing by BJ Burton
• Additional vocals on "Play It Right" by Molly Sarlé Alexandra Sauser-Monnig
• Recorded at Posi-Vibes House in Durham, NC
• Remix mastering by Heba Kadry
• Interior photo by Derek Anderson