Sylvan Esso - Echo Mountain Sessions EP

Sylvan Esso is a duo I've always had a very rocky relationship with.  When I first heard their self-titled debut album a few years ago, I didn't enjoy most of it.  It was just so bland, and while I saw what people were enjoying about it, I felt like there were way too many instances of it that were fake excuses to sound edgy.  However, when I heard their album "What Now" from earlier this year, I was actually really impressed.  This album was miles better than its predecessor, with much more interesting production and some actual bite to some of the tracks.  So here we are a few months later, and Sylvan Esso have gone out of their way to Re-Record some tracks from "What Not".  Not only that, they've Re-Recorded them with a much bigger band, bringing in artists from The Mountain Goats, Hiss Golden Messenger, and PLENTY more.

    This EP starts off with “Rewind”, and for one thing I love the very experimental edge that I feel like Sylvan Esso has never really completely grasped.  I love Amelia Meath’s very haunting, eerie vocals here, which is made even more haunting by just how unnerving that accordion is.  However, when that verse opens up, everything pretty quickly becomes much warmer and inviting.  But I’ll be honest, I do really love just how spacious this track comes off.  That’s something that I’ve always sort of been aggravated with when it comes to Sylvan Esso, I’ve always wanted to hear a bigger sound from them.  And that’s what we get on this remake of “Rewind”, and all of the very lush, sweet instrumentals really come off so nice.  The keyboards are airy, the horns are a fantastic touch, and overall this one is just really enjoyable.  Up next is “Die Young”, and I just can’t get over how seriously BIG these tracks sound.  They really have just so much room to breathe, and that’s something I can really appreciate.  The Synth/Horn combo here is also seriously chilling.  Some of these performances not to mention, just come off so raw and exciting, and THAT is something to write home about.  This new version of “Die Young” is groovy and hip, and is totally new ground for the duo.  Not to mention, they sound like they’re having an absolute blast with it too, not awkward or anything.  So far, this has been great.  Then we have “The Glow”, and this one sounds just as sweet, upbeat, catchy and carefree as the album version.  However, I do feel like this one has an even poppy and inviting sound to it with all of these added instrumentals.  Plus, those keyboards and horn make this one seriously a whole lot more catchy.  It’s just another seriously classy experiment for this duo, one that I honestly sort of wish they dove a little deeper with.  Like, that’s my only major issue with this EP, I wish they did maybe another song or two.  But still, this is enjoyable.  Finally, we have a reworking of “Slack Jaw”.  However, with this much slower and somber tone, I just really don’t feel like this does Sylvan Esso’s more expansive sound justice.  Just the opposite, I feel like this one just comes off as awkward.  Like, I feel like Sylvan Esso wanted to bring in more instrumentals to “Slack Jaw” but didn’t know how to use them to their advantage.  The result is seriously underwhelming, and while I do enjoy hearing more emotion from Amelia, this one really doesn’t work for me.

Rating:  7.3/10

Give A Listen To: "Rewind", "Die Young", "The Glow"

Overall Thoughts:  I'm gonna keep this short and sweet, this is a solid EP.  The thought behind it is great, especially for someone like me whose always wished that Sylvan Esso would adapt a bigger sound.  My only real issue with this is that this easily could have been a song or two longer.