Fresh off the heels of last night’s sold-out Royale gig opening for tUnE-yArDs, North Carolina duo Sylvan Esso have announced an expansive headlining tour that comes to Higher Ground in Burlington, Vermont September 9 and The Sinclair the next night. The jaunt follows a summer of dates playing with the likes of Policia and Death Cab for Cutie and will cross the pond, hitting such locales as Ireland, France and Denmark.
Bolstered by success of single and Vanyaland favorite “Coffee” earlier this year, the pairing of Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn delivered a shimmering, self-titled debut album just over a month ago. The 10 songs were recorded in Sanborn’s Durham, NC bedroom during the last year, an impressive feat considering the layers of activity and effects that populate them; the dizzyingly crisscrossed harmonies of “Play it Right,” the gorgeously incongruous elements of “Wolf,” the surreptitiously minimalist momentum of “HSKT.” Sanborn’s production is fully modern and wonderfully active. He enlists obliterating dubstep stutters and crisp electropop pulses, hazy electrostatic breezes and epinephrine dancefloor turnarounds.
Peep the recent Noisey session to get a better idea:
Sanborn’s music syncs seamlessly with Meath’s melodies, so that the respective words and beats become a string of ready-to-play singles. The irrepressible “Hey Mami” webs handclaps and harmonies around a flood of bass, a strangely perfect canvas for a tale of dudes hollering at neighborhood tail and, finally, finding the chivalry not to do so. They are sophisticated, but with none of the arrogance that can imply; they are addictive, but with none of the banality that can entail. There is sensuality and sexual depravity, homesickness and wanderlust, nostalgia and immediacy. Sylvan Esso acknowledges that the world is a tumult of complications by giving you a way to sing and dance with those troubles, if not to will them away altogether.
Sylvan Esso Tour Dates:
6/18 Montreal, QC – La Tulipe #
6/19 Toronto, ON – NXNE Festival
6/20 Pittsburgh, PA – Cattivo
6/22 New York, NY – Webster Hall # **SOLD OUT**
6/23 New York, NY – Webster Hall # **SOLD OUT**
6/28 Milwaukee, WI – Burnhearts Street Festival
7/26 Minneapolis, MN – 10 Thousand Sounds Festival ~
8/14 Asheville, NC – The Mothlight *
8/15 Atlanta, GA – The Earl *
8/16 New Orleans, LA – Gasa Gasa *
8/17 Austin, TX – The Parish *
8/19 Tucson, AZ – Club Congress *
8/20 San Diego, CA – Casbah *
8/22 Los Angeles, CA – The Troubadour *
8/23 San Francisco, CA – The Independent *
8/25 Portland, OR – Doug Fir *
8/26 Seattle, WA – Barboza *
8/27 Boise, ID – Neurolux *
8/29 Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court *
8/30 Denver, CO – Hi Dive *
9/4 Madison, WI – The Frequency
9/5 Milwaukee, WI – Cactus Club
9/6 Chicago, IL – Hideout Block Party & AV Fest ^
9/9 Burlington, VT – Higher Ground +
9/10 Boston, MA – The Sinclair +
9/11 Brooklyn, NY – Rough Trade NYC
9/12 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom + **SOLD OUT**
9/17 Dresden, DE – Altes Wettburo
9/19 Hamburg, DE – Hamburg Introducing
9/18 Berlin, DE – Introducing Berlin @ Schwutz
9/20 Essen, DE – King Kong Kicks @ Hotel Shanghai
9/22 Cologne, DE – Studio 672
9/23 Luxembourg – Rockhal
9/25 Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
9/26 Antwerp, BE – Trix Bar
9/27 Paris, FR – Badaboum
9/28 Zurich, CH – Stall 6
9/30 Brighton, UK – Green Door Store
10/1 Birmingham, UK – Hare and Hounds
10/2 London, UK – Oslo
10/3 Bristol, UK – Louisiana
10/4 Cardiff, UK – Buffalo Bar
10/6 Manchester, UK – Soup Kitchen
10/7 Dublin, IE – Workman’s Club
10/8 Belfast, IE – Black Box
10/9 Glasgow, UK – Nice ’n’ Sleazy
10/31 Saxapahaw, NC – Haw River Ballroom
# with Tune-Yards
~with Polica
* with Dana Buoy
^ with Death Cab For Cutie, Dismemberment Plan, Mac Demarco, etc
+ with Doe Paoro