Sylvan Esso

What Now LOMA VISTA. CD/DL/LP

North Carolina duo’s second stab at modernist pop. Anyone drawn to Sylvan Esso’s self-titled 2014 debut following Amelia Meath’s part in wondrous folk-harmonisers Mountain Man probably baulked at her new digi-pop setting, courtesy of Bon Iver associate Nick Sanborn. Their follow-up moves further from Appalachia, starting with the introductory Sound, which resembles an Alan Lomax field recording fed through a pitchshifting, tape-glitching mangle, before the album settles on skittering, diamondbright pop and R&B-leaning sass. Upbeat shakers Kick Jump Twist, Just Dancing and Radio firmly place them in the here-and-now, likewise lyrical references to fame, online ÒclicksÓ and the Òmoves of a TV queenÓ. Sanborn’s relentless modernism occasionally overwhelms Meath’s sumptuous keening vocal and serpentine melodies. It’s interesting to note how the album ends; with the suspenseful ballad Slack Jaw and an equally sombre Rewind suggesting that Meath still yearns for the mountains.