After randomly meeting on a shared bill at the Cactus Club in Milwaukee, Amelia Meath, of the folk trio Mountain Man, asked Nick Sanborn, who was opening as electronic producer Made of Oak, to remix her song "Play It Right." They were so pleased with the results that they moved to Durham, North Carolina to record a pop album as Sylvan Esso. Following three infectious, dreamy singles, released over the last year, that blend Meath's crooning harmonies with Sanborn's scattered synths, the duo's buzzy self-titled debut album, out May 13, is set to be the soundtrack of the summer. Here we talk to Meath about what their album's made for: dancing. Did you and Nick bond over dancing?
Yeah, I knew we were going to be friends because we danced the same way. We both get so dorkily stoked that there is no way that we aren't going to twitch around onstage.
What's the best dance party you've ever been to?
When I was living in San Francisco learning contortionism at circus school. I met these two dudes busking on the street and they invited me to this party. When I walked in, it was full of circus people -- like naked circus people doing the limbo and drinking something that was sort of White Russian-y and kombucha. It was wild! I was super young so it was the party that put the Can't Hardly Wait party in context for me.
Wait -- you're a contortionist?
Yeah. Before I decided to go to college, I thought about doing that for a while. But circus people are so intense! They are like theater kids and jocks mixed together into some sort of vain superhero. Plus, once you're trained in contortionism there are few alternatives besides contortion or stripping.