“IT’S GUITAR MUSIC, BUT IT’S FOR EVERYONE”

Yvette Young is one of the most original guitarists on the planet – combining innovation with accessibility in a new Covet album. But she admits: “I’ve always felt like an outsider to the guitar world...”

It’s a familiar story: the Californian child of immigrant parents turns guitar playing upside down with a radical approach to two-handed tapping. Yvette Young’s music is nothing like Edward Van Halen’s, but her story is similar. Self-taught on guitar after a background in classical music, they both found their own idiosyncratic approaches by fearlessly chasing the sounds in their heads.

Like Van Halen, Yvette Young’s technical wizardry is disguised by an emphasis on memorable songs. For a band sometimes categorised as math rock, Covet are remarkably accessible. “It’s guitar music, but it’s for everyone,” says Young, Covet’s leader and mastermind. “I just love catchy music, stuff that makes you want to dance.” The new album, Catharsis, zips by in under 30 minutes. “I purposely made a lot of these songs really short,” she says. “I’d rather leave people wanting more than overstay my welcome. I prank myself by making the most difficult digestible music, so it’s hard for me but fun for everyone else!”

Already known as one of the most cutting-edge guitarists on the scene, Yvette’s playing has evolved again since 2020’s breakthrough Technicolor. “It’s crazy,” she smiles. “We tracked these songs and then we toured, and something happened to me on tour where my guitar playing changed. I started almost pseudo-picking; instead of fingerpicking I would use the tips of my fingers or my nail to make a pick and get more attack. I started bending more and using the whammy bar more. My playing totally evolved.” Tapping is still a major feature, but it’s now one approach among many. “I just expanded my toolkit. When I went back to the studio after the tour I ended up re-tracking a ton of the songs because I play them differently now. The solos have a lot more character and flavour.”

Covet get labelled shoegaze for Young’s pedal-obsessed musical meditations, but Catharsis often sounds more like gazing at an open sky. It’s not hard to guess the album was made in California. With dreamy extended chords and vocoder-drenched vocal harmonies, opener Coronal comes on like a grunge Beach Boys, while first single Firebird consciously evokes driving an open-top muscle car. “A lot of it’s joyful, but then there’s two songs that are heavier, so I’m excited to showcase that sonic spectrum,” Yvette reflects.

“I really love exploration of tones and using them like

“I LOVE POST-ROCK, POST-METAL, EDM, AND ROCK, AND I’M TRYING TO CHANNEL THEM ALL”