Sylvan Esso et Meshell Ndegeocello

What measure is a supergroup? Is it a statement about the quality of the band itself? Do the members of the band have to be famous? Is it just the bands they come from that have to be famous? Does anyone involved need to be famous? Is it an outdated term? Is it pejorative? All these questions do need to be at least pondered, as in the most literal, basic sense possible, Sylvan Esso are a supergroup. This is because the band is made up of people who are in other bands that have gone on to have some success themselves. Supergroup. However, I don’t think this sits quite well with Sylvan Esso as a band, as they are far more than the sum of their parts.

For one thing, this is no busman’s holiday where musos can kickback and make whatever self-indulgent claptrap they want without the interference of a record label or existing fan base. Both members of the band are risking a lot and this can be seen even in something as simple as their sound. The duo is made up of singer Amelia Meath, whose day job is singing in the close harmony folk trio Mountain Man, and producer Nick Sanborn, who plays in psychedelic folkers Megafaun. One look at that line up and you’d expect the results to at least feature some form of acoustic instrument, right? You’d be wrong, however. Sylvan Esso are a synthpop band, and against all probability, they’re a great one at that.

While Sanborn might have been known for playing in Mountain Man, he also had a lesser-spotted side project as an electronic producer. While playing on the same bill as Mountain Man he struck up a friendship with Meath, who asked him if he wanted to remix their song “Play It Right”. They were both so impressed with the result that they made time in their busy schedule to work on something bigger, and by 2013 they had holed up in Durham, North Carolina to make an album together. The album was released the year after and instantly became the most commercially succesful thing that either artist had ever been involved with, charting in the top 40 on the Billboard 200 and the top ten on the independent album charts.

Now that Megafaun are no more and Mountain Man are on hiatus, the stage is set for big things from this most unique of bands. They’ve already made their television debut on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show and have found themselves sharing a label with John Grant and The Dismemberment Plan and the sky’s the limit from here. So in all, it doesn’t matter what a Supergroup means or doesn’t mean, what matters is the music. Sylvan Esso’s is brilliantly unique and comes highly recommended.

Born in Berlin, Germany in the late ’60’s Johnson’s father was an Army Sergeant Major and a saxophonist and her mother a health care worker. The family moved to Washington D.C. where the singer changed her surname to Ndegeocello meaning “free like a bird” at the age of 17.

The singer began learning the ropes on Washington D.C.’s go-go circuit in the 1980’s with the bands Prophecy, Little Bennie and Rare Essence. The singer moved to New York City, U.S. after studying music for a short time at Howard University. Ndegeocello soon stood out from the pack performing solo with a bass guitar, drum machine and keyboard and caught the attention of Madonna’s Maverick label.

Ndegeocello’s debut album in 1993 “Plantation Lullabies” was produced with the help of David Gamson, André Betts and Bob Power. The album received much critical success and spawned the hit “If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night)” and was awarded three Grammy nominations for her effort. Released a year after brought Ndegeocello to the mainstream performing a cover of Van Morrison’s “Wild Night” a duet with singer John Mellendcamp, which reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Her long awaited follow-up album “Peace Beyond Passion” got its release in 1996 and peaked at No. 63 on the Billboard 200, higher than her debut and was nominated for Best R&B album. Produced by Gamson, the album features the song “Who Is He (And What Is He to You?” a Bill Withers’ cover, which became a U.S. club hit, topping Billboard’s club chart.

Three later after a little collaborative work with Queen Pen on the track “Girlfriend” the singer released her third studio album “Bitter” released in 1999. 2002 saw her released the sprawling mixtape “Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtape” followed by “Comfort Woman” in 2003. The subsequent album “Dance of the Infidel” saw Ndegeocello include a host of jazz influences and collaborate with a number of musicians from the jazz world.

Ndegeocello’s sound is defined by her eclecticism and reluctance to do the same thing twice, with R&B, funk, soul as well as hip-hop and jazz influencing her sound, she has long been renowned for her distinctive genre blend and has often been credited for sparking the neo-soul movement.

In keeping with Ndegeocello’s unpredictability she made her debut on the classical label Decca with the album “The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams” featuring guitarist Pat Metheny. Since then she has released “Devil’s Halo” in 2009 a pop-inspired album, “Weather” in 2011 on Naïve Records, “Pour une Âme Souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone” and the highly introspective 2014 release “Comet, Come to Me”.