Limelight
Life-affirming and joyful storytelling from a modern-day guitar master.
COWBOYS WALKING OFF into the sunset across vast deserts. Wizards practising spells in forests. Heroes riding into certain danger to save citizens from burning buildings. Storytelling is one of the most powerful tools we have in the world, and for Yvette Young, it’s become a central part of how she creates music. These very different situations are all taken from Catharsis, the third album from her band, Covet.
“In a world where everything is figuratively burning down, it’s easier to bury your head in the sand and build a different world than it is to address those problems,”she says.“But I didn’t just want to bury my head. Most of the songs on this album were written over quarantine. I had a lot of stuff happen and a lot of crap I had to face, so I just tried to put all of my feelings into my music. Catharsis is a fitting way of summing everything up and getting everything out.”
Though where catharsis can often come in the form of fire and brimstone-laced intensity, Young’s outpouring was more kaleidoscopic and sun-dappled. Starting each track from a pedal demo, she let the effects of her vast collection pave the way, before considering what riff and melody would fit perfectly, the result ended up being one built on positivity. The audio equivalent of the sun’s heat being so strong that it bursts through whatever cloud dares to cover it. It’s the culmination of having the time to experiment at her own pace while also keeping the whole reason she does this at the forefront of her mind.
“Guitar is the reason that I am still living and breathing today,”she says with a smile,“and I think the main reason
