Sylvan Esso and Silvana Estrada

What measure is a supergroup? Is it a statement about the quality of the band itself? Do the members of the band have to be famous? Is it just the bands they come from that have to be famous? Does anyone involved need to be famous? Is it an outdated term? Is it pejorative? All these questions do need to be at least pondered, as in the most literal, basic sense possible, Sylvan Esso are a supergroup. This is because the band is made up of people who are in other bands that have gone on to have some success themselves. Supergroup. However, I don’t think this sits quite well with Sylvan Esso as a band, as they are far more than the sum of their parts.

For one thing, this is no busman’s holiday where musos can kickback and make whatever self-indulgent claptrap they want without the interference of a record label or existing fan base. Both members of the band are risking a lot and this can be seen even in something as simple as their sound. The duo is made up of singer Amelia Meath, whose day job is singing in the close harmony folk trio Mountain Man, and producer Nick Sanborn, who plays in psychedelic folkers Megafaun. One look at that line up and you’d expect the results to at least feature some form of acoustic instrument, right? You’d be wrong, however. Sylvan Esso are a synthpop band, and against all probability, they’re a great one at that.

While Sanborn might have been known for playing in Mountain Man, he also had a lesser-spotted side project as an electronic producer. While playing on the same bill as Mountain Man he struck up a friendship with Meath, who asked him if he wanted to remix their song “Play It Right”. They were both so impressed with the result that they made time in their busy schedule to work on something bigger, and by 2013 they had holed up in Durham, North Carolina to make an album together. The album was released the year after and instantly became the most commercially succesful thing that either artist had ever been involved with, charting in the top 40 on the Billboard 200 and the top ten on the independent album charts.

Now that Megafaun are no more and Mountain Man are on hiatus, the stage is set for big things from this most unique of bands. They’ve already made their television debut on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show and have found themselves sharing a label with John Grant and The Dismemberment Plan and the sky’s the limit from here. So in all, it doesn’t matter what a Supergroup means or doesn’t mean, what matters is the music. Sylvan Esso’s is brilliantly unique and comes highly recommended.