Sylvie – New Season

In 1975, a folk rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio, called Mad Anthony lined up in a Californian barn to record a series of demos on a humble two-track reel-to-reel recorder. It took 48 years for the session to see the light of day, when Earth Libraries released it as The Lost Tapes in 2023.

Mad Anthony’s crowning achievement, the tender ballad “Rina,” is lovingly reimagined in glorious high fidelity on Sylvie’s debut full-length, New Season. It feels like an extremely obscure song for a contemporary artist to cover, until you realise that Ben Schwab, the driving force behind Sylvie—and previously of dream pop duo Golden Daze—is the son of the song’s original author, John Schwab.

Schwab’s heartfelt tribute to the Californian folk rock of the late 1960s and early 1970s stems from his authentic connection to the era. While it would be tempting to compare New Season to Jackson Browne and the whole Laurel Canyon scene, I sense that Schwab’s familial link to the era is the prevailing influence here. His pivot from dream pop to lushly orchestrated Californian songcraft suddenly makes sense: this music is part of his DNA.

I have fond memories of Golden Daze’s 2019 Simpatico, and Schwab has lost none of his songwriting nous. New Season is carefully constructed as a record of two halves. Side A—the languid “Are You Coming?” through to the delicate “You and Me”—is warmer sonically, with its bright acoustic guitars and restless pedal steel. Its lyrics tell a different story, however, as early standout “Not Looking Back Anymore” exemplifies: “Fine times have gone and left me sad at home/Old friends walked out my door/Sweet, familiar faces, and places we used to go/I don't go there anymore.”

The more downbeat, almost nocturnal, Side B, features stellar vocal contributions from Kacey Lee Anderson (“Wish I Could Tell You”), Courtney Marie Andrews (“Guiding Star”), and Sierra Fennell (“California Hills”), but Schwab’s signature remains prominent throughout. The mood is reflective, even hopeful, hinting at the titular New Season; it’s the sound of acceptance; Schwab is moving on.

51 years ago, Mad Anthony tried to make their way into the Californian folk-rock scene, only for success to elude them. In his own inimitable way, Ben Schwab has sought to correct this historic wrong. New Season is no pastiche: it is a beautiful record, lovingly crafted and superbly executed. A little predictable, sure, but a joy from start to finish nonetheless.

New Season is out now via Ghostly International.