The first time I saw
Sylvan Esso, all I knew about them was that they were an up-and-coming Durham duo with members of two bands I hadn't really listened to: Amelia Meath from rootsy vocal trio
Mountain Man, and Nick Sanborn from local favorites
Megafaun (hell, I really just knew Sanborn as a sometime member of the Love Language from
way back in 2011). Dance not really being my thing, they were still fun when I saw them open for the Love Language many months ago. This was just before they graduated from "up-and-coming local act" to "genuine international buzz band". Despite being pre-album release and very few live shows in, they already had the audience eating out of their hands. In that setting, though, I couldn't quite hear what has since become so appealing to me about this band.
But upon listening to their eponymous debut, Meath's liquid, layered vocals began to draw me in, begging to be drunk... to become drunken with them, to drown in them. In songs like
Hey Mami,
H.S.K.T., and
Play It Right, you can definitely hear a rootsiness. This made sense since her previous band was one often compared to folkies the Roches, a similarity I (probably not coincidentally) noticed in her Sylvan vocals despite never having heard that earlier comparison. But with Sylvan Esso, the pastoral is mixed with a siren-like worldliness more befitting a smoky cabaret or, yes, a dancefloor... but perhaps a dirt-strewn, moonlit dancefloor, as on this night.
Meath...
Not to ignore Sanborn's input. He's the one doing the layering of her layered vocals (no trio to harmonize with here). He's providing the rhythm, adding the accents, just making the damn thing whole. Complex yet sparing beats perfectly complement the vocal melodies. Truth be told, there are scores of stunningly beautiful vocalists out there. Without Sanborn's skillz, Meath's excellent vocals (as talented as she is) might frankly get lost in the crowd. But the chemistry between the two of them creates something much more exciting and relevant than just great singing.
Sanborn...
It is for me, however, that voice. And, back to the setting, that voice could ask for no better space to fill than a grassy field in Carrboro on a stunning spring night. Christ, the full moon was rising just as she crooned
"The modern WOLF..." (the opener to the song
Wolf). It was all smoothly led into by the Rosebuds'
Ivan Howard's solo set, and the singularly intense vocals of Jenn Wasner playing as her solo project
Flock of Dimes. This built to an eventual mellow-pagan dancehall vibe, ending with the encore of
Come Down, the beautifully resonant closer from the album and perfect postscript for the night.
Carrboro Town Commons adds a great large outdoor venue to the Triangle scene, especially for nights like this one. Here's hoping they use it more often (and provide more bathrooms, PLEASE!). Both Wasner and Meath (no strangers to touring) said the crowd of around 4,000-5,000 was the largest they'd ever played before, and it's good to know we gave it to them. The scene here can do that for more touring (and bigger local) bands.
Ivan Howard...
Flock of Dimes,...
Sylvan Esso...
Ahoooo!
