Sylvan Esso Releases ‘Sunburn’ Single

Sylvan Esso shared the surprise single “Sunburn.” The track marks the duo featuring Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn‘s first new music under the Sylvan Esso moniker since the 2020 release of their Grammy-nominated Free Love album.

“Sunburn” arrives as Sylvan Esso prepares to take the stage at Durham Athletic Park in Durham, North Carolina tonight for the first of three consecutive concerts at the baseball stadium. The pair recorded the song during sessions held at both their Betty’s studio in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and at Los Angeles’ Dahlia Ave facility. “Sunburn” was performed live by Sylvan Esso for the first time last week at their debut Austin City Limits taping.

Meath came up with the chorus this past January while sitting on the front porch of a house in Los Angeles. The pair described the track as the following:

“Sunburn” is:

• eating candy til you’re sick
• riding your bike too fast down a hill
• when you’re five years old and don’t want to get out of the water, and by the end you’re shivering and all your fingers are pruney and your lips are turned purple
• an undertow that sneaks up unsuspectingly
• the painful pulsing pink of swollen eyelids leftover after a day lying in the sun
• plunging forward without time for second-guessing
• produced by Sylvan Esso
• for you

Stream Sylvan Esso’s “Sunburn” below: