Sylvan Esso Line Up New Album Ow

Sylvan Esso have announced their first album in four years. Ow, the follow-up to No Rules Sandy, will be the North Carolina duo’s first release on its own Psychic Hotline label, launched back in 2018. The single “Concrete Glen” samples Sigur Rós’ Ágætis Byrjun track “Svefn-g-englar”; watch a video for that, directed by Aaron Anderson and Eric Timothy Carlson, below. The album arrives September 11.

The duo’s Amelia Meath says in a press release:

One of my favorite ways of producing in general is to come up with an idea and then take out a third of it. One, it makes things interesting and exciting, but also it makes your ear ask a question. And it kind of forces the listener to be creative as well. To try to fill that space with something, which I find as a listener to be really exciting and interesting. Particularly with pop music, because it’s all about fulfilling a promise. You know this melodic structure, you know, we’re going to the four here. Not doing it is always the thing that makes people fall in love with a song or a person.

Living hurts forever, and then it stops. But also it’s a little silly. And that’s how I feel. If you’re going to keep participating in the world, and in your life, you have to commit to being hurt. And if you aren’t putting yourself in the way of potential hurt, you miss out on a lot of potential opportunities. So in some ways it’s like a rallying cry, saying ‘I’m gonna get hurt forever, and that’s okay.’

Players on the LP include Daniel Aged, BJ Burton, Matt Douglas, Glenn Kotche, Jake Luppen, TJ Maiani, James Mapley-Brittle, Buddy Ross, Jenn Wasner, and Joe Westerlund. Since pulling their catalog from Spotify last year, Sylvan Esso have announced a giant tour of North America that begins in earnest in the fall, before a second leg in early 2027. Album listening events will also take place around the world on September 3. Check out the Ow tracklist—including recent single “Hot Slob”—and Eric Timothy Carlson’s album art below.