Sylvan Esso released an elusive track that I’ve been hunting down for the last two and a half years.

Have you ever been at a bar listening to someone’s intensely coked-out story of how they just figured out the answers to all their life’s problems in that very moment? As you try to listen intently, all the while knowing that whatever epiphany that just washed over them will be a distant dream by morning, the best song you’ve heard in months wafts through the air. As you look for an opportunity to wiggle free from said conversation without feeling like you’re abandoning a friend on a blow-fueled-vision-quest, the song fades just as quickly as it appeared. By the time you make it to the DJ booth the DJ reply’s to your inquiry with, “Honestly, my friend gave me the track but I don’t know who it is. Pretty dope though huh?” After a short stint of frustration you decide that everything will be fine and you will find this song again. Months later walking into a coffee shop the tail end of saidtrack is playing and, lo and behold, by the time it’s your turn to order your large chai latte with vanilla almond milk the song has passed yet again, and the cashier has no idea what you’re talking about and has even less of a desire to help you find this song that will put your brain at ease. This has been my struggle for the last two and a half years.

Long after giving up all hope and putting this song in the back of my mind I was gifted a playlist from the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen before. I played this playlist on shuffle between other things that I had been keeping in my rotation. Just yesterday, walking in the middle of an empty street getting soaked in the rain, this unicorn of a track slowly seeped out of my headphones and into my brain. Covered in warm satisfaction and an almost panicked state I fumbled to get my phone out of my rain-soaked pocket to reveal the answer to my long-standing, unanswered question: Sylvan Esso, “Coffee”… Obviously, my next action was to immediately text said pretty girl to inform her that her fantastic song choices had mercifully ended a near-constant, frustrating 2 year mental battle.

I’d like to spend the rest of the night describing every aspect of this song but I won’t do that to you. Just press play and take note how much empty space there is in this very low-end beat that is filled with some of the most effortlessly beautiful vocal tones.

“My baby does the hanky panky.”

-Dominic Fawcett-