Sounds | Sylvie, Stealing Time

Op het verkeerde spoor gezet door de naam en de stem. Sylvie is dus geen vrouw, maar een man, m.n. Californian Ben Schwab. Ik hoor heerlijke folk rock met een zweem country. Muziek die zacht binnekomt, gedragen door subtiel gitaarspel, een niet overdreven aanwezige lap steel en natuurlijk die heerlijke klank uit de keel van Sam Burton. Een tijdloze song bovendien die ergens diep in de jaren zeventig geworteld zit. James Taylor komt zo af en toe eens om de hoek kijken.

Sylvie verschijnt op 14 oktober 2022 via Fulltime Hobby.

Lees

Déjà vu is translated as “already seen” but for South California native Ben Schwab, his discovery in a small Ohio town 2000 miles from home led to an epiphany of creating the “already heard.” Unearthing a box of 1975 cassette tapes of his father’s old band, the recordings – or “Sylvies” as Ben would affectionately call them later – became the imprint for a familiar feeling he would end up chasing. The songs were timeless, effortless, and soulful.

Awakening senses to the eternal quality of hidden or lost music, Sylvie fully encompasses that very same musical lineage and spirit living in those lost yet beloved time capsules. Recorded years before by Ben’s father, John Schwab and his own band Mad Anthony in a Southern California barn, those reels spoke of a common narrative at the time; a band close to a record deal which never came, so the tapes were boxed up and stored in a closet for years to come. “Dad’s songs are straight from the heart and really shaped my taste and imagination for songwriting in a permanent way,” Ben reveals. Taking the name from one of those early recordings – an obscure cover of a 70s track by Ian Matthews – ‘Sylvie’ would inspire his project’s namesake and feature as the album’s only cover. “It’s an incredible song from the past but for whatever reason, is basically unknown,” Ben offers by way of an explanation. “Sylvie sounds so different from Mad Anthony, but their story is very personal and an inspiration that runs deep. I was able to translate it into something entirely different.”

True to Mad Anthonyʼs form and blissfully reminiscent of Laurel Canyon’s rootsy collaborative scene, Sylvie’s rolling folk-rock runs a strict go-with-the-flow policy. Inviting close friends and inspiring musical colleagues to gather and record at his own garage in Silverlake CA, Ben channels his years of writing, arranging, recording, and playing with bands Golden Daze and Drugdealer into writing and recording expansive original arrangements without temptation of decorative reverb/delay or pedal effects. “I aspire to write timeless songs I could relate to 40 years from now,” he says. “Putting my own life experiences, friends and family into them, making Sylvie has been a spiritual pursuit.

Whether releasing his own limited run of tapes featuring outtakes and conversations from his phone, covering Jason Molina for Secretly Canadian’s SC25 Series, or supporting Widowspeak on tour; music may run in the Schwab family, but history is not ready to repeat itself. “I would love to make a short film around the concept of Sylvie and plan to release my dad’s Mad Anthony tape separately later this year but for now, I’ll go at my own pace to see what inspires me and run with that.” Dig for gold, you might just discover Sylvie and its lasting treasures within.