︎︎︎C. Schmidt
E. Angell ︎︎︎
KEE AVIL
Montréal producer Kee Avil combines guitar, voice, and electronic production to forge deconstructed songs informed by a distinctive amalgam of post-industrial, avant-pop, glitch, minimalist, and experimental folk sensibilities.
“An off-kilter pop song driven by Avil’s visceral vocal expressions, clawing and pleading for something that seems out of reach“ - BackSeat Mafia (2024)
“
The further these dark songs seep into your ears, the more unforgettable Crease becomes”. - Bandcamp Daily (2022)
KEE AVIL
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Montréal producer Kee Avil combines guitar, voice, and electronic production to forge deconstructed songs informed by a distinctive amalgam of post-industrial, avant-pop, glitch, minimalist, and experimental folk sensibilities.
Harnessing a background in improvised music, Kee Avil’s self-titled EP (2018, Black Bough Records) introduced the project with a triptych of layered and fractured vocal, segmented guitar, and electronic ooze, glued together by samples of screws dropped into crystal bowls.
Catching the ear of Montréal label Constellation, Kee Avil’s debut full-length album Crease was released on the imprint in 2022, garnering widespread critical accolades and a Juno Award nomination. The Quietus called Crease “a stunning debut”, Mojo declared “the ferocity of her vision makes Crease a compulsive journey through an aural dreamworld”, and it was a Bandcamp Album Of The Day and among its Albums Of The Year: “A debut of fiendish creativity filled with uniquely gentle terrors.”
Crease expanded Kee Avil’s sonic and structural palette with intensive detail, revealing a compelling new voice in experimental songcraft, where touchstones include PJ Harvey, Eartheater, Shygirl, SOPHIE and Lucretia Dalt; where Juana Molina collabs with Coil, or Grouper melds with Autechre. Kee Avil performed Crease extensively in solo and duo configurations, playing at Ruhrtriennale, Le Guess Who?, Guelph Jazz Festival, Vancouver Jazz Festival and FME among many others, and supporting artists such as SUUNS, Stephen O’Malley, Xiu Xiu, Kikagaku Moyo and Klô Pelgag.
The Crease Remixed EP was released in 2023 featuring reworkings by claire rousay, Ami Dang, Pelada, and Cecile Believe. Kee Avil’s follow-up full-length album Spine will be released on Constellation in May 2024.
“An off-kilter pop song driven by Avil’s visceral vocal expressions, clawing and pleading for something that seems out of reach“ - BackSeat Mafia (2024)
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“
The further these dark songs seep into your ears, the more unforgettable Crease becomes”. - Bandcamp Daily (2022)
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"If you're a fan of the more experimental edges of PJ Harvey, Bjork and Grouper, you're gonna love this." - Mary Ann Hobbs, BBC Radio 6 (2021)
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"An exploration of what the electric guitar and the whispering voice can do quietly when turned up really loud. " -
The Saint Louis Music Report (2021)
See also:
Website
Facebook
Instagram
Bandcamp
Youtube
Spotify
Videos
Felt - 2024
See, my shadow - Live 2022
HHHH - Live 2022
Okra Ooze - 2022
saf - 2022
See, my shadow - 2021
Thinkstill - Live 2020
And I - Live 2020
I too, bury - Live 2020
Discography
Label: Constellation Records
2024: Spine
2023: Crease Remixed
2022: Crease
*
2018:
Kee Avil EP (Black Bough Records)
Shows:
Tour dates
Press:
BBC 6 (2024)
Exclaim! (2024)
BackSeat Mafia (2024)
Foxy Digitalis (2023)
The Quietus (2022)
Bandcamp Daily (2022)
The Wire (2022)
Fifteen Questions (2022)
Le Devoir (2022 - FR)
Aural Aggravation (2022)
Le Canal Auditif (2021 - FR)
Contact:
Management: Amélie Malissard
Booking (EUR): Ricky & Giorgio (Swamp Booking)
Label: Constellation Records
Press (UK/EUR): Lauren Barley (Rarely Unable)
Press (USA/CAN): Mark Trecka (Clandestine)
Photo Credits:
Fatine-Violette Sabiri
Caro EtchartLawrence Fafard
Green Yang
Jelmer De Hass
Jaden Scholes