BONUS COLLECTOR’S CD: Includes an exclusive 4-track CD in a hand-stamped cardboard sleeve, with each disc uniquely decorated by Sylvan Esso, making every copy one of a kind. Features the pre-release singles “Concrete Glen” and “Hot Slob,” plus the standalone tracks “KEEP ON” and “WDID.” A very cool extra for Sylvan Esso fans and collectors.
ylvan Esso return with Ow ∞ (pronounced “Ow Infinity”), a bold, immersive new album shaped by four years of writing, experimentation, improvisation and collaboration. Created in the woods of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, it marks the longest Sylvan Esso have ever spent developing an album and captures the electronic pop duo sounding immediate, playful and completely uninhibited.
Much of Ow ∞ was built from improvisation at Sylvan Esso’s North Carolina studio, Betty’s, with Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn finding grooves alongside an impressive group of collaborators. Guests include Glenn Kotche (Wilco), Matt Douglas (The Mountain Goats), Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak, Flock of Dimes), Joe Westerlund (Megafaun), Jake Luppen (Hippo Campus, Samia), Daniel Aged (Frank Ocean, Dijon) and drummer TJ Maiani (Weyes Blood, Neneh Cherry).
The result is a sinewy, punchy and explosive record that balances experimentation with a striking sense of humanity. Many of Meath’s vocals are first takes, giving the songs an intimate, spontaneous quality while her unmistakable voice anchors the album amid its shifting electronic textures, rhythms and unexpected turns.
Ow ∞ also finds Sylvan Esso working with a new level of creative independence. Recorded in their own studio and released through their own label, the album captures a band fully in control of its sound while exploring the decidedly uncontrollable experience of being alive. Strange, colorful, tactile and alive, Ow ∞ pushes Sylvan Esso into exhilarating new territory.
