Over the past decade, Yvette Young has firmly carved her face into the Mount Rushmore of modern guitar heroes. The Californian has gone from posting solo videos to a niche group of fans to releasing a bunch of albums both on her own and, as frontwoman of math rockers Covet, being endorsed by the likes of Yamaha and Ibanez, and pushing the inventive boundaries of her self-taught splendour. Now on the group’s third album, ‘Catharsis’, Covet set out to create a fantasy realm where the songs depict different characters and their own worlds.
Covet wastes no time in diving head first into the first of those figures, as ‘Coronal’ opens with lilting melodies and an earworm riff that is drowning in Young’s preferred effects pedals. It also includes vocals which are something of a rarity in the band’s work to date, but unlike the soft and soothing ‘Parachute’ from 2020’s splendid ‘Technicolor’, here they are so thick with vocoder that the track feels grimier and dirgier for it. But Young’s fretwork is what we all came here for, and it does not disappoint, practically acting like a second voice throughout with deft runs and soaring solos adding to the polyrhythms and intricacies of the song.
‘Firebird’ was inspired by Young’s mother owning a Pontiac when she moved to the United States from her native China, and the song perfectly embodies the feeling of driving down the California coast with the top down, the summer breeze in your hair and your cares and troubles left in the dust. It’s the sound of hazy days spent with friends and loved ones, the sparkling guitar lines wrap you up in a warm embrace and, unlike some of Covet’s contemporaries, it feels light and airy, rather than bogged down in showing off technical prowess.Â
Throughout their history, Covet’s lineup has chopped and changed, and this time around, Young is joined by bassist Brandon Dove and drummer Jessica Burdeaux. While they take a comparative backseat in the grand scheme of ‘Catharsis’, their input cannot be overlooked. Burdeaux’s drumming works overtime in embedding a sense of linear progression to the chaos amidst the polyrhythmic star of the show, and Dove’s bass cuts through just enough so as to be a calming, comforting presence despite the twists and turns Young’s guitar work takes.
‘Interlude’ has Young returning to her piano-based roots and folds her proficiency with the violin into the mix as well. Her musicality has always been apparent, but to hear it across multiple instruments in these stirring few minutes adds a whole new sense of wonder and intrigue. ‘Catharsis’ is an album that evokes everybody from Polyphia and CHON to Pijn and Latitudes.
With just eight songs and running to around the half-hour mark, its cool nature means that this album breezes by. This feels like a decent length for the work, which could easily begin to sound too familiar should it go on any longer. As it is though, Young has used her pedals, effects and tricks strategically well so as to ensure each track feels connected but separate; like they really are individual characters of the same universe. For example, the 80s-tinged ‘Bronco’ and the harder-nosed ‘Smolder’ bear subtle similarities to one another despite their considerable ostensible differences.
Overall, ‘Catharsis’ is a gorgeous new entry into the mind blowing pool of content Young has to flaunt. The work here is as impressive as we’ve come to expect and is steeped in an emotional intelligence that moves you. While bands like Covet are often accused of existing only to impress you rather than leave a lasting impression, there is heart and love aplenty here. Young is truly one of the greats.
JACK TERRY