Sylvan Esso launch new record label, share Amelia Meath / Blake Mills collab

Lis Sinatra

Sylvan Esso have started their own record label called Psychic Hotline. The label is based out of their hometown of Durham, NC, and is a collaborations between the band's Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn, as well as their manager Martin Anderson, in partnership with Secretly Distribution.

"We created Psychic Hotline to be the type of record company we had dreamed of," say Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn. "An artist-led enterprise that strives to do right in radical ways by the creators who entrust us with their work; in the deals we make, the way we do business and the way we center the art and the artist. We do not seek to own intellectual property under any circumstance, nor do we subscribe to scarcity-based career approaches. We strive to ever-expand our musical community; to welcome more voices and more perspectives. We believe that the only common denominator in great music is honesty in expression."

They've also announced the Psychic Hotline Singles Series that will feature new music from Sylvan Esso as well as Anjimile, Bartees Strange with Eric Slick and Ohmme, Blake Mills and Amelia Meath, Flock of Dimes, Nick Sanborn's Made of Oak, Amelia Meath's Mountain Man trio with Alexandra Sauser-Monnig and Molly Sarlé, Peach Fuzz, Sam Gendel, The Tallest Man on Earth, Uwade and more TBA.

First up in the series is the Amelia Meath and Blake Mills collaboration "Neon Blue," a lush, gorgeous track that features a radical reinterpretation of the song by Sam Gendel as the b-side. "From the beginning, it was obvious that it was a nighttime song," says Blake, "so the scene that we have to set with this sound has to be nocturnal, and feel like it takes you there without the song having to lyrically set the scene. In trying to steer clear of something that felt terrestrial and American and familiar, it became more about trying to build something that felt more alien, sort of thinking -- 'What's a combination of things that would feel like part of another world?'"

You can stream both versions of "Neon Blue" below.

Psychic Hotline will also have a reissue series, that will include Sylvan Esso's self-titled debut that's out October 8 (preorder), as well as albums by Bowerbirds, The Dead Tongues and Joe Westerlund.

There's a sold-out Psychic Hotline launch party in Durham on August 15 with performances and DJ sets from Sylvan Esso, Mountain Man, Young Bull, Helado Negro, Sam Gendel, and Sylvan Esso and their 10-piece WITH ensemble host this year's Bonnaroo Superjam. They'll also be on their Shaking Out The Numb Tour with Samia, Lido Pimienta, and Local Natives this fall.