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Sylvan Esso Returns With 'Radio'

As Sylvan Esso, singer Amelia Meath and producer Nick Sanborn craft danceable pop songs that exude an ambivalent, searching quality. Sure, they're catchy as anything, and Meath — a veteran of the a cappella folk group Mountain Man — knows how to command a spotlight. But Sylvan Esso's songs also bear the weight of melancholy, even as Sanborn's springy arrangements send them soaring.

Since its release in 2014, the duo's self-titled debut has held up incredibly well — so well, in fact, that new material feels like a bit of a surprise, simply because the older songs still sound so fresh. But after a pair of bonus tracks trickled out last year, Sylvan Esso is preparing a new album for release in 2017, and surprise-dropping a new song overnight: Titled "Radio," it matches characteristically propulsive electronics with Meath's scathing commentary about commodification.

"Radio" will get a physical release on a 12" single — paired with "Kick Jump Twist," which has popped up in Sylvan Esso's live sets — that's due out on Nov. 18. In the meantime, soak it up here as you await more new material soon.

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Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created and developed with NPR correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)
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