“I’ve got the moves of a TV queen,” Amelia Meath croons on “Radio,” an exuberant electro-pop anthem. “Folk-girl hero in a magazine/ Faking the truth in a new pop song.” The irony is rich: If you actually stumbled on this song on real-life radio, casually listening on your morning commute, then it’d be easy to write off Sylvan Esso as the kind of preening Billboard-chasers their song lampoons. But even if Meath is singing with her tongue firmly planted in cheek, it’s worth noting that “Radio,” with its silky synth arrangement and manicured chorus, could wind up being the North Carolina duo’s first major hit. What Now, the group’s second LP, is deceptive that way. A trademark example is “Die Young.” Over producer Nick Sanborn’s minimal electronic pulses, Meath sweetly daydreams about perishing in a tragic plane crash—cuddly at first, gloomy the longer you examine it. Sylvan Esso explored thissame light-and-dark approach on their 2014 debut, but even their best songs felt tentative—somewhat constrained by their bedroom-studio setting. What Now exudes more confidence and sonic color: Meath, who softly cooed most of her vocals on the previous LP, now implements a more dynamic attack with some cabaret twang here, some R&B roar there. And Sanborn’s production has billowed into 3-D, weaving synthetic tones with organic flourishes (the clattering jazz-drum loops of “Kick Jump Twist,” the acoustic guitar and string loops on “The Glow”). Forget the radio—Sylvan Esso have taken a more crucial creative leap.