Ow ∞

Ow ∞ is the fifth studio album by Sylvan Esso, the Durham, North Carolina duo of Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn, released September 11, 2026 on their own independent label, Psychic Hotline. It is their first album in four years and the longest they have ever spent writing a record.

The record was shaped by real disaster. Plans to record in fall 2024 were derailed when Hurricane Helene flooded western North Carolina, and a subsequent stretch working in Los Angeles collided with the devastating wildfires that tore through the Palisades and the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in early 2025. Meath has described the album as being born "between a flood and a fire." The duo also lost a close friend during this period, adding personal grief to the environmental upheaval surrounding the sessions.

Rather than retreat, Sylvan Esso opened the record up. Ow ∞ features the band's largest cast of collaborators to date, including six different drummers (among them Glenn Kotche and Jenn Wasner) plus guest contributions on guitar, bass, keys, vibraphone, woodwinds, organ, and piano. Much of the material grew out of improvisation sessions at their home studio, Betty's, and most of Meath's vocal takes on the finished album are first takes, a deliberate embrace of imperfection over polish.

The 12-track album trades in opposites: playful, chaotic production sits beside frank songwriting about pain, mess, and resilience. Critics have described it as the duo's most energetic and catchy work in years, and as a record that treats hurt as fuel rather than something to be smoothed over.