Sylvan Esso doesn’t rest — they are busy being nominated for Grammys, running their own record label, and releasing infectious songs. In May, the married electronic duo returned with their first material of the year, the glitchy “Sunburn” which they said was “eating candy til you’re sick, riding your bike too fast down a hill.”
They’re back today with “Your Reality,” an intimate, sputtering track with a string arrangement from Gabriel Kahane and drums by TJ Maiani that make it fuller and more powerful. As the song pushes forward, it becomes increasingly hallucinogenic, like a whirlpool of sounds getting bigger and stronger and gaining momentum. Amelia Meath’s vocals are crystal clear and animated. Nick Sanborn says the additional instruments helped them see “how weird we can take it,” he said. “How bare and strange something can be.”
Their last album was the critically acclaimed 2020 Free Love. “We actually got to the place that you always say about yourself: I just want to make something that I think is good. I feel like we actually got there this time,” said Sanborn about the making of the record. “The WITH tour was the final nail in the coffin.”
Listen to “Your Reality” below.