Two Wisconsin artists — Sylvan Esso's Nick Sanborn and PHOX's Monica Martin — prepare for big changes

Few up-and-coming musicians from Wisconsin have accomplished more in recent years than Nick Sanborn and Monica Martin.

Sanborn, with the synthpop duo Sylvan Esso, and Martin with the recently wrapped PHOX, have done talk show performances, headlined U.S. and European tours; and played Coachella, Lollapalooza and other mega-festivals.

On Friday, they begin new chapters with full-length albums: Sylvan Esso's sophomore effort "What Now?"; and Martin's collaboration with producer and composer Violents, "Awake and Pretty Much Sober."

Both albums are likely to grow their fan bases. More importantly, both albums reflect significant artistic growth.

Sanborn: Avoiding sophomore slump

For Sylvan Esso — formed in 2013 in North Carolina by Milwaukee music veteran Sanborn and singer Amelia Meath — there was internal pressure to top its breakthrough self-titled album. With "What Now?" it jumped to a larger indie label, Loma Vista Recordings, home for St. Vincent and Iggy Pop. 

The duo went bigger with "Radio," the lead single that's peaked at No. 28 on Billboard's adult alternative chart. But listen past Sanborn's sleek synth grooves and Meath's soaring vocals, and you'll hear some smart, scathing criticism of the music industry hype machine they were conflicted about embracing. "Faking the truth in a new pop song/Don't you wanna sing along," Meath sings. "Do you got the moves to make it stick yeah/to get the clicks yeah … can you keep them coming?" 

It speaks to Sylvan Esso's realization that career implications shouldn't define the songwriting. There had to be a higher purpose.

"We wanted it to be less like I was making a beat and she was singing on it," Sanborn said. Through more thoughtful, collaborative songwriting, "we kept coming back to this idea of translating your personality through a machine, in order to find another human being on the other end," Sanborn said. The album's thesis not only informed the lyrics — "Kick Jump Twist," for instance, documents a protagonist during a photo session — but the songwriting process itself. 

The surprising, experimental opening track, "Sound," starts with a soft, digital pulse, until slowly, Meath's voice starts to emerge amidst fluttering synthesizers. To create the effect, Sanborn used an analog synthesizer where Meath's voice actually controlled the instrument's pitch. "It was the reverse of Autotune," Sanborn said. "It really feels like that machine is singing back to her, like it has this soul to it."

"What Now?" has plenty of soul — from Sanborn's organic production touches, including acoustic guitar samples and hand drums, to Meath's meaningful lyrics and unprocessed voice — but the songs have kick, too. There's enough anticipation to justify two nights of theater shows this summer in several markets, including Madison, and Sylvan Esso will play Lollapalooza and Justin Vernon's EauxClaires festival. 

"On one end, I have financial security, and that's cool and new and different. On the other end, I have panic attacks now," Sanborn said. "But I'm more ready for the things that are to come."

Martin finds confidence

The Baraboo-born Martin has fought anxiety most of her life, singing in public for the first time with her friends in PHOX, beginning in 2012. 

So when Violents — the stage name for electronic producer and composer Jeremy Larson — asked Martin to sing some of his songs in his Nashville studio about two years ago, Martin avoided committing for six months. 

"I was terrified to be honest," Martin said. "I had only worked within PHOX, and in that atmosphere even it was hard for me to be vulnerable. But Jeremy said, 'Do something scary. Do something to challenge yourself to be a better musician, to be a better artist.' When I met with him, it was so fun, and singing his songs felt so good."

Martin's fragile voice is a splendid complement to Violents' lush synthesizers and classical piano and string arrangements, with "Awake" track "Unraveling" an emotional highlight.

"(Violents) explained to me that when he wrote that song, he imagined losing people really close to him, and talked about what it was like to spend this time receiving love from someone, and giving love to someone, and at some point, it's gone," Martin said. "This was probably a year after my dad had passed away, and hearing how layered the song was, how thoughtful he was, I was just crying."

With Violents and Martin busy with other projects — she's currently working on her debut solo album — there aren't current touring plans. But the experience making "Awake" will have a lasting impact, Martin said.

"Singing someone else's songs who has a very different melodic intuition than you is so important," she said. "It expands the muscles in your throat, it broadens your singing. And this album is going to be part of the influence for the songs I am writing."

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