Song of the Day, 9/22: Sylvan Esso, “Coffee”

Electronica usually isn’t my thing, but there are exceptions, especially if there are vocals to humanize the music. Especially female vocals. So I fell hard for Sylvan Esso the first time I ever heard their breakout song, “Coffee”, on WXPN when it came out in 2013. The song has an interesting official video, but the link is to a live-in-studio version from KEXP-FM in Seattle, because this video gave me a serious crush on singer Amelia Meath, as much for her dancing as her singing.

Before hooking up with Nick Sanborn, who provides the beats and electronics, Meath was one-third of the a cappella group Mountain Man, which she and two friends at Bennington College formed in 2010. Their Appalachian sound and original compositions brought them critical acclaim and some exposure; they spent a year on the road with Feist as her backup singers. Meath met Sanborn when Mountain Man was sharing a bill with him at a club in Wisconsin. Meath asked if he could remix Mountain Man’s song “Play It Right.” She was so pleased with the result it became the final song on Sylvan Esso’s debut album. She moved to North Carolina to work with Sanborn, whom she almost inevitably married in 2016.

The duo’s newer music isn’t quite as stripped down, but their popularity is still growing. The single from their 2017 release “What Now,” “Radio,” is a scathing commentary on the recording industry, but ironically it got plenty of play on the radio.