“I was gonna die young. Now I gotta wait for you, hun” – Sylvan Esso

This is an album from Sylvan Esso, a band that started in a Wisconsin deli in 2012. Amelia Meath told her new friend Nick Sanborn that she wanted to start a band, She told him he was going to be in it and the division of labor would be simple, she would write and sing the lyrics and he would make the beats.

Since then their division of labor has disappeared and they work right alongside each other for each step of the way. At one point Nick said “At the heart of Sylvan Esso is a really fun argument” They’re making pop songs that aren’t on the radio because they’re too weird.

You can hear the slight tension all throughout the album but it just compels you to listen to it further. It is the kind of tension people crave in music and the kind of tension that makes things dynamic.

As a duo, they’ve grown a lot. Their music is powerful and makes you sway or nod your head without you realizing it.