Upon discovering the new single from Yvette Young (via Instagram of all places), I was immediately reminded of Sophie And Peter Johnson. The breezy sophistipop certainly merits easy comparisons. Then I realized that Young did vocals for Brothertiger’s mesmerizing cover of Sophie and Peter Johnson’s “Torn Open.”
Young is a member of the math rock outfit Covet but her solo work here is far from the tightly wound calculus and strange time signatures that are markers of that genre. Though Young’s guitar solos on “Always” have jagged edges that contrast with the shimmery polish present in the rest of the song’s components, most of the instrumentation is pure dream pop. With reverb so wet it will remind you of summer days at the pool and synthetic-sounding drums, the song calls to mind Softer Still’s Nuances LP. Like that band’s output, Young’s new track could be mistaken for an artifact of the 80s, but the preponderance of very visible tattoos in the video leaves no doubt that this is a contemporary affair.
Yvette Young - Always (YouTube)
