For SF WEEKLY: Before Oakland’s tUnE-yArDs takes the stage at the Fillmore this Friday, Sylvan Esso will do its part to remind audiences that plenty of pop music in 2014 is interesting: subtle, smart, and infused with artistic sensibility.

In Sylvan Esso songs, producer Nick Sanborn creates beds of hushed electronics similar to Four Tet or Bonobo, and singer Amelia Meath lays her unforced vocals — think Lorde or Florence and the Machine — on top.

Through repetition, sparse rhythms, and catchy melodies that sound more like Ladysmith Black Mambazo than Britney Spears, Meath and Sanborn produce hypnotic songs that fans of tUnE-yArDs’ vocal acrobatics and worldly rhythms will likely greet with open arms.

photo courtesy of Sylvan Esso