Hopscotch Highlight: Sylvan Esso

Sylvan Esso (Durham, NC) performs on Thursday, Sept. 5
at 10:00 at Memorial Auditorium

We're creeping awfully close to the most wonderful time of the year for fans of North Carolina's rich music scene. This year's Hopscotch boasts the most impressive lineup yet, a feat that the festival continues to pull off with each passing year. September is drawing near and that means that for three full days downtown Raleigh will be home to one of the most brilliantly orchestrated music marathons of the year. When the lineup was released I went through and did my annual rundown of bands on the bill, taking note of the new locals that I was unfamiliar with. Last year this method allowed me to find one of my favorite bands of the year with Jenny Besetzt and surely enough this year produced the same results.

When I stumbled upon Sylvan Esso the band had yet to release any music, but when I saw that the group was comprised of Nick Sanborn of Megafaun collaborating with Amelia Randall Meath of Mountain Man I knew that this would be a truly special project. But I had no idea that the duo would produce songs that left me absolutely floored at their seemingly effortless take on a truly innovative sound. Sylvan Esso brilliantly blends skittering, pulsating beats with twee-folk inspired melodies to create a unique blend of mesmerizing timbres.

When it came time to plan out my first Hopscotch Highlight it was a no-brainer, it had to be Sylvan Esso. The duo coincidentally enough made their live debut at last year's Hopscotch during Sanborn's Made of Oaks set at The Pour House. Made of Oaks is Sanborn's "beautifully sad instrumental hip-hop" project whose sound serves as the aural foundation for Sylvan Esso's groundbreaking tracks.