Covet

Instrumental trio Covet quickly cultivated a loyal audience through intricate compositions and the distinctive two-handed tapping technique of Bay Area guitarist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Yvette Young. Raised on classical piano and violin, Young transferred those instrumental approaches to guitar, forging a style that blended classical phrasing with math-rock precision; she first honed this approach as a solo performer before recruiting a rhythm section in 2014 to establish the group. The band’s exploratory math-rock textures, which Young has labeled “emotional nerd rock,” grew more expansive across successive releases, notably the ambitious 2020 debut full-length Technicolor and the 2023 album catharsis.

Young began sharing solo guitar videos online while residing in Los Angeles in 2009, gradually attracting listeners to her virtuosic playing. In early 2014 she issued the solo EP Acoustics, then relocated to her hometown of San Jose that fall and assembled Covet’s original lineup with bassist David Adamiak and drummer Ben Wallace-Ailsworth. Departing from her earlier gentle acoustic work—sometimes featuring vocals—the trio’s instrumental sound drew on post-rock structures and math-rock detail; they performed locally for roughly a year until Wallace-Ailsworth departed and Keith Grimshaw took over on drums.

Covet’s debut EP, Currents, arrived in December 2015, accompanied by touring and promotional sessions including an Audiotree live recording. After Grimshaw exited, Forrest Rice joined for the six-song album Effloresce, released in July 2018. The following year the band issued the three-song EP Acoustics, introducing the new track “Predawn” alongside acoustic versions of two Effloresce cuts. “Predawn” resurfaced in an electrified arrangement with guest Phillip Jamieson on Technicolor, a ten-song set issued in June 2020 that stood as the group’s longest and most elaborate collection to date.

During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Young appeared in a Logitech campaign highlighting remote work. Covet’s subsequent release, catharsis, emerged in April 2023 on Triple Crown Records as a loosely conceptual effort in which each piece evoked its own fantasy realm; although predominantly instrumental, the album incorporated Young’s occasional vocals alongside her signature guitar work.