Sylvan Esso’s Ow ∞ is restless electronic pop, full of clipped grooves, sudden gaps and drum parts that seem to shove against each other. Amelia Meath’s voice keeps the songs human, even when it’s pitched down on “Entertainment & Coca-Cola” and set against North Carolina crickets recorded on an iPhone. “Sledge” hits with a rough, noisy charge, “Flood Season” drifts into sluggish ennui, and “Plastic Sword” gives the album a strange medieval edge. A Sigur Rós sample surfaces in “Concrete Glen”, while “Jessica” moves with the slow, submerged pull of water. “Hot Slob” is the closest thing here to a straight-ahead summer rush, though Sylvan Esso rarely leave a clean line untouched.
Meath and Nick Sanborn wrote and produced the album over four years around Betty’s in Chapel Hill, working through improvisations with Daniel Aged, TJ Maiani and a long list of collaborators. Six drummers contribute across the record, including Glenn Kotche, Jenn Wasner, Jake Luppen and Sanborn himself, and some tracks combine several performances. That helps explain the loose, crowded physicality. It’s a paid release through the duo’s own label, with additional production from Luppen, James Mapley-Brittle and Buddy Ross. Fans of off-kilter indie pop and art pop will find plenty to get into, though the record’s patched-together edges can feel as challenging as they are exciting.
