Sylvan Esso

Editors’ Notes Singer Amelia Meath of the folk trio Mountain Man and Megafaun bassist Nick Sanborn make music that's both sweet and savory. Meath’s vocals are layered and interlaced, woven into spare arrangements with bulging, blinking synths and snapping electronic percussion. A whiff of TuneYards here and a hint of Little Dragon there, Sylvan Esso works street noise, warm static, and odd flourishes that flow easily, all sultry and sexy and clearly tolerant of weirdness injected at any moment. “Play It Right” expands and contracts on synth notes that inhale and exhale, thunking percussion and synthetic hand claps keeping the beat, with a chorus of Meath’s looped vocals fluttering over something like a clanking cowbell. Tunes like “Dreamy Bruises” and “H.S.K.T.” (“head, shoulders, knees, and toes”) play like hopscotch rhymes for the late-night crowd, and “Coffee” gets into your system in the best way, its warm synth pulses, slinking shakers, and twinkling xylophone creating late-night magic all on their own.