Jesse Sykes is an artist who’s inclined to share her creative stirrings with fans and friends.
On her personal Facebook page, she has posted an eight-minute film snippet backed with a song, “My Gentle Chaperone,” from a current project, “Forever, I’ve Been Being Born” — something she’s working on with longtime collaborator and bandmate, Phil Wandscher.
In her online comments, she cautions listeners it is a “very rough and incomplete mix. (In other words, it ain’t done being recorded!)”
Those who hear Sykes and Wandscher at Cafe Zippy in Everett on Saturday night are likely to hear more of their works in progress. “I like people to hear (the songs) in their present form,” Sykes said. “Before you add strings and all the bells and whistles.”
Sykes and Wandscher are the core of Jesse Sykes and The Sweet Hereafter, a Seattle band whose four albums between 2002 and 2011 drew acclaim from critics, including those at Rolling Stone, the New York Times and Pitichfork.
Their success resulted in “touring, touring, touring” in the United States and Europe, Sykes said. With a twinge of sadness, she left the road and settled for a slower pace during the past several years.
“I reached a point in my life when I just needed some stillness,” she said. “But, oh, that band, in that incarnation — I wish it could have lasted forever,” she said. Now, as she and Wandscher work on a fresh album, they’re enthusiastic about their new rhythm section and hope to tour with them once the recording is released.
Along with their nascent material, the Saturday show will include earlier pieces from Jesse Sykes and The Sweet Hereafter, things that lend themselves to being performed by a duo. “It will be a set list that makes sense when you’re face to face with an intimate group,” Sykes said. “Lots of songs with stories behind them.”
The show is a return engagement for Sykes at Cafe Zippy. She performed there in June and is fond of the venue.
“It is a neat little hub,” Sykes said. “It’s a place with a lot of warm vibes. You don’t find that very often.”
Plus, she and Cafe Zippy’s owner Marilyn Rosenberg have known each other for years.
So, what can an audience expect from a Sykes and Wandscher concert?
An evening of their music could include everything from finger-picking to moody distortion. Their sound has been forced into a variety of pigeonholes, from alt-country to spectral folk rock to pyschodelic folk. But none of those labels seems to do the job.
During the intense touring years, Jesse Sykes and The Sweet Hereafter appeared with an assortment of musical acts — ranging from Black Mountain to Bright Eyes. And both Sykes and Wandscher collaborated with the drone metal band Sunn O))) on its notable experimental album, “Altar.” Sykes said she embraces the chance to perform for and with people with diverse musical tastes.
“And I love working with Phil because our work evolves. We’re not tethered to just one idea,” she said.
A downside, Sykes acknowledges, is that their songs don’t fit comfortably into the sort of channels created by Spotify or Pandora algorithms. “I guess that’s the disappointment, especially with the way the business is going.”
But Sykes doesn’t measure the value of her music simply by streams and downloads. “We are outliers,” she observed. “We’re not going down the same avenues as some other bands.”
Jesse Sykes and The Sweet Hereafter (performing as a duo)
The performance begins at 8 p.m. Dec. 16 at Cafe Zippy, 1502 Rucker Ave., Everett. Tickets are $15. Call 425-303-0474.
More about Jesse Sykes at www.jessesykes.com.
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