Electro-pop duo Sylvan Esso have returned with their first new single in three years — which is being released on their new record label, Psychic Hotline — and announced their decision to pull their music from Spotify.
The track, “WDID,” is an urgent, cutting blast of agit-pop filled with grinding synths, in-the-red drums, and a warning cry from vocalist Amelia Meath: “It’s the northern lights/It’s wreckage all around/It’s a genocide/It’s a Burger King crown/It’s happening/It’s happening/It’s happening now.”
The song’s sentiment is fittingly in line with Sylvan Esso’s decision to pull their music off Spotify, partly in protest of co-founder Daniel Ek’s ties to Helsing, a German defense tech company with a particular focus on artificial intelligence. (Other artists who’ve taken similar stances include Massive Attack, King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard, and Xiu Xiu.)
“As we prepare to release new music, we have to decide what we want to be a part of and what we don’t,” Sylvan Esso said in a statement. “To that end, with Sylvan Esso being on our own label for the first time, we have decided to remove our music from Spotify. While no solution is perfect, we simply can’t continue to put our life’s work in a store that, in addition to all its other glaring flaws, directly funds war machines.”
“WDID” marks Sylvan Esso’s first new music since 2022, when they released their fourth studio album, No Rules Sandy. Per a press release, the group has spent the past year working on new material with new collaborators, though no other details were revealed. “WDID” will get a physical release as well, with a 12-inch single arriving Jan. 9; it’ll include the b-side, “Keep On,” which features contributions from bassist Daniel Aged and drummer TJ Maiani.
Last year, Sylvan Esso celebrated the 10th anniversary of their 2014 self-titled debut with a a reissue featuring eight new tracks. They also remixed the Postal Service’s “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight.”
