Today’s Broken Record podcast features the duo Sylvan Esso. Beyond doing some really cool stuff and playing a modular synth setup, two lines of conversation resonated with me.

Keeping the form to break the norm

They talk about seeing how much of a left turn they can take in a song and still make their way back to where it makes sense. To, in essence, fit jazz into a pop song structure.

And how they can communicate intent via their pieces that they made a wild choice for a reason and use that to build trust for the next time they get weird.

Know the form well enough that you can exploit it in a way that’s uniquely you while building trust with the audience that you aren’t just pushing boundaries for the sake of it. #goals

Be silly

Silliness is a foundational piece of the emotional experience of being human, of being alive, but it exists in very little music (and art?). So why not add it yourself?