In their new album, Sylvan Esso transforms a life spent making music with others into a work of art that we adore, a tactile and enchanting free fall. Written over four years in the woods of Chapel Hill (the longest period the group has ever dedicated to composing an album), Ow 8 (pronounced "Ow Infinity") exudes immediate intensity. Most of the tracks presented here are the first vocal takes from Meath, and the clarity and humanity of her unique voice anchor the album in something real. It was born from a period of experimentation and collaboration, resulting in a nervous, impactful, and explosive work where the songs seem to claw their way through. A technicolor totem of personal destruction, the feeling of being reduced to mush and then rebuilt into something that feels almost human, almost familiar, yet also grotesque and new, a caricatured and burlesque smile printed on a ruin. Much of the album emerged from improvisation, during hours spent in their studio "Betty's" in North Carolina, finding rhythms with guest collaborators such as Glenn Kotche (Wilco), Matt Douglas (The Mountain Goats), Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak, Flock of Dimes), Joe Westerlund (Megafaun), Jake Luppen (Hippo Campus, Samia), Daniel Aged (Frank Ocean, Dijon), and drummer TJ Maiani (Weyes Blood, Neneh Cherry). "Ow 8" marks the first time Sylvan Esso truly felt comfortable with what they are doing: the duo has now identified all the pathways allowing them to take the reins and produce their works as they see fit, with the people of their choice, in their own studio and through their own label. For an album that grapples so much with the uncontrollable nature of life, it arrives at a moment when the duo finally has total control over what Sylvan Esso can become.