“Time’s ticking away.“
I have great memories of listening to Covet’s 2020 release Technicolor on my walks during Covid-19’s initial lockdown. The track listing is beautifully composed, abundant with peaceful math rock riffs with care taken into the tone and production. It, and Chon’s self-titled record, released around the same time, were a perfect 1-2 punch of blissfully impressive instrumental music. Fast forward to 2023, and all that is here and more on Covet’s upcoming release, Catharsis, out this Friday via Triple Crown Records.
Our first taste of the album came with the release of single “firebird”. And truthfully, I wasn’t blown away. It comes across as a safe, on brand cut. But thankfully, that is largely not the case for the rest of the album. Take the opener, “coronal”, for instance. It starts with a chunky, bassy, distortion ridden riff with shoegaze styled vocals. There is an array of effects on the vocals throughout the track and it makes for a unique soundscape. Moreover, there is almost too much reverb on this cut but the band manages to keep it tasteful.
Then there’s “bronco”, which utilizes a djenty sweeping strum pattern with vibrant plucky riffs dispersed. This is juxtaposed by the back 3rd of the track which has some synthy keys thrown in for a brighter finish. That duality allows the track to keep the listener on their toes, which is why I prefer it over a track like “firebird”.
“vanquish” is a track that I’m a bit torn on, but mostly love. There’s a little riff at around the 40 second mark that I can only describe as exploratory. It’s like opening up a world, or in this instance, the rest of the track for more development. The middle of the track has peaceful layered guitar work with a simple but well thought out bassline. The band as a whole are fantastic composers, and that is especially true of uber talented Yvette Young. She guides the track towards the climax so meticulously and expertly. And during the climax, there’s a key change that adds so much to the cathartic nature of the track.
A piano driven, string laced interlude leads into “smolder” which happens to be a contender for my favorite track here. The opening is a beautiful cacophony of violin and progressive shoegaze goodness that really takes up the entire first half of the cut. Then there’s “merlin” – I like how the track is more methodical and slower. It feels like a garage band practice jam sesh for a lot of the run time, and the strings are consistent throughout the track and guide it beautifully. The other instrumental elements are dynamic, performed well, and there are plenty of switch ups too. It has a good mix between the heavier, grungy chords shared with predecessor “coronal”, and the pretty plucking that Covet have mastered on this album.
Lastly, while “firebird” didn’t initially impress me, the band then released closer “lovespell” as single #2 which reignited my well-deserved hype for this release. The initial verse leads up into this soaring riff that feels so freeing. The second stanza of it has these insanely subtle synths laid in the background and that slight adjustments makes the aforementioned stanza pop. There’s also a tapping section that leads into an ascendent horns via an Alex Rose feature which carries the track into its climax. The math rock elements are turned up to 11 here, but so are the lovely extra elements that make Covet a joy to listen to.
Yvette has explained how the album is “…escaping into a fantasy realm where the songs depict different characters and their own worlds” and I think the goal of those sounds were met on catharsis. Just like I used Techincolor for escapism on my Covid walks, I can do the same with catharsis, and this time, it was even intended. The textures present on every song allows for layers of escapism and I think it will take anyone a while to untangle them all. Sometimes they can be difficult to latch onto, but it remains a very satisfying listen.
7.5/10
You can pre-order catharsis here ahead of its release this Friday.