CREASE

The debut full-length album by Kee Avil, a project led by Montr al producer and guitarist Vicky Mettler. ??Crease is a singular expression of deconstructed electroacoustic postpunk songcraft: chiselled minimalist guitar, sinuous low-end electronics, various prepared instruments, a panoply of organic and digital samples creating alternately twitchy and propulsive rhythm, all galvanized with the intimacy of her finely wrought lyricism and vocals. Bound by an outstanding production sensibility throughout, Crease unfolds one oblique earworm hook after another, with compositional innovation anchored to an inscrutable and compelling voice across 10 songs of tremendous and imaginative sonic detail. Alongside her superb austere guitar work, stitched together in electro-industrial, dark-ambient and minimal-techno soundworlds, her voice and lyrics-confidential, hermetic and ineffable-provide an ever-shifting and always captivating through-line. Kee Avil brings a unique sensibility to bear on traditions and conventions of avant-pop, art-rock, electronic and sound-art songwriting, where touchstones range from Scott Walker and Coil to Fiona Apple, (early) PJ Harvey and (later) Juana Molina to Eartheater, Pan Daijing and Smerz-or like Grouper produced by Autechre.