SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: COVET – CATHARSIS

Covet
Catharsis
Triple Crown Records

It’s hard to manipulate vocals, guitars, bass, pianos, and drums to beautifully articulate sun-drenched guitar patterns and beachfront atmospherics into one’s music from start to finish on an album. But bands like Covet always make it look like a walk in the park. With 2020’s Technicolor, Covet delivered one of their most kaleidoscopic pieces of music to date. Now Covet take their instrumental art a step further, taking listeners on another gorgeous euphonic dream with their latest album release, Catharsis. With songs meant to transport the listener into a fantasy realm where the songs illustrate different characters within their own worlds, Catharsis takes each experience and elegantly expresses what it means to close your eyes and feel like you’re in another universe.

From the beginning, Covet starts their mellifluous adventure with “Coronal.” Serenity abounds as it floats between cosmic realms of gritty guitars, punchy percussive energies, and hazy vocal daydreams. Since Effloresce, Covet have come a long way, with each album displaying a significantly richer and more discordant experience. Their musical patterns and the way they construct environments for the listener to sit in and immerse themselves in are playfully unpredictable and always filled with a youthful zest that keeps one coming back for more. While this is just the beginning track, it is the first of many beautiful moments that will soon follow on Catharsis.

“Firebird” continues to push the boundaries of math rock with its dazzling display of phoenix-like guitar structures and euphoric bass lines as it transitions into the sprightly and ambitious “Bronco.” There is a sound that comes with the territory that makes the warm and natural soundscapes of math rock stand out, but Covet’s exciting passages and nuanced indie mysticism that are masterfully presented throughout challenge the concept of what it means to be a math rock band.

Other inventive otherworldly pleasures such as “Vanquish” persist in delivering deftly virtuosic instrumentation that continues to explore one’s emotions and atmosphere, each shaped and defined by its creative energies. From there, Catharsis steps into one of its most beautiful moments on the record, “interlude.” Complemented by Yvette Young’s use of delicate vocals and ornate use of piano, Covet are a band rooted in experimental risk, and treasures such as this often show why their bold moves in this album pay off in dividends.

Catharsis shows more of its teeth and a sense of heaviness with grunge-influenced “smoldered.” Painted head to toe with massive twilight guitar sections that intertwine with fuzzy interludes, Covet provides explosive energy not previously seen on other albums but is a welcomed distraction on their new release.

Catharsis ends with decadent finale tracks “merlin” and “lovespell.” With deep math, progressive, and jazz flavors really picking up towards the end of the album, Covet take the best of all their abilities and confidently show off why they are one of the best instrumental bands in the genre currently and ends their album on a bang.

Covet have never been a band that has been cocky about their abilities, nor have they ever had to be. The talent has always spoken for itself throughout the progression of their albums. Catharsis quietly showcases just how talented and brillant these musicians are without the need to overdo and overcomplicate their sound. Covet tend to prove with each release that less is more, and Catharsis is no exception.

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