Two years ago Montreal producer Kee Avil’s debut for Constellation ‘Crease’ caused quite a rumpus with its avant-pop mosaicism, all intricate vocal, sound and instrument patterns set within an experimental glue and deceptive song structure. Bandcamp made ‘Crease’ album of the day and year-end lister, Mojo pinned on four-star acclaim and The Quietus were rightly stunned. Now comes intel on the eagerly anticipated follow up ‘Spine’ again via Constellation and due on the shelves 3rd May.
Speaking about her new work, Avil admits “For 2 years after Crease, I didn’t write music, words were just tip toeing in my brain. Spine had to happen fast, so I wouldn’t get frozen in time again“. Being recorded, as was ‘Crease’, at Concrete Sound Studio with Montreal compatriot Zach Scholes, could suggest consolidation being the focus of ‘Spine‘ but no. This new album was conceived and completed quickly over the course of a year, rather than strung out over time, in an effort to grab inspiration from Avil’s immediate experiences and capture them in the moment.
The approach also shifted in response to the urgency, peeling back the layers and density of presentation to something simpler, more raw, exposed. As Avil describes “These songs are minimal, written with 4 elements each, or less. I wanted to show their core, to strip off the excess, to dig myself out“. The first preview track ‘Felt’ shows the power and emotional punch that evidently lies at the heart of the upcoming album.
Twisting through a gangly detuned guitar phrase, given pulse by a lo-fi electronic patter and spit, it’s an off-kilter pop song driven by Avil’s visceral vocal expressions, clawing and pleading for something that seems out of reach. Parallel to Kleenex and Polly Jean, Micachu era Mica Levi and Gazelle Twin but distinctly out on her own, Kee Avil’s ‘Spine’ is an album that will surely make its own space.
Pre- Order your copy of ‘Spine‘ by Kee Avil at your local record store or direct from Constellation HERE
Kee Avil will also be touring Europe this May, dates as in the poster:
