Lizet Aviva’s stirring eponymous EP captures the perspective of an introspective songwriter navigating a world that rarely seems to slow down. Drawing from influences like Wilco and Feist, the release finds Aviva combining guitar, loops, and subtle effects with diary-like songwriting, giving each of its five songs a distinct perspective on life, feeling, and the search for a more honest way of expressing what matters.
“Stutter & Stumbling” opens the EP with absorbing and personal allure, inspired by her own history with stuttering. “There’s a fire in my body, I know I have it in me,” her lines resonate with introspective appeal, conjuring ample momentum in the ensuing sequences as various elements rise. The “racing through my veins” elongated melodic feel pairs with more expressive guitar layers, for a sophisticated pop/rock intertwining with ample expressive soulfulness. Ruminations on things left unsaid and personal obstacles combine with a dynamic production to kick the EP off in riveting form, especially resonant in a cathartic conclusion with rousing electric guitar energy.
The EP continues to captivate throughout. “Head, Heart & Hands” ensues with a hazier mellowness, described by the artist as written “when the daily grind had taken over and was pushing my feelings to the background.” The visceral lyricism — “I’m choking on feelings…” — combines with soothing instrumentation that seems to beckon a slowing-down in the face of a work-centric society. Next up, “Une Vie Trop Tranquille” continues to reflect on a contrast between movement and needed tranquility, within a swell from trickling guitars to dreamy yet tonally expanded vigor, with Radiohead-like guitar work closing it out. It’s another moving piece of songwriting from Lizet Aviva.
“Kitchen Table” is another highlight, lyrically fixating on subtleties like “little bite marks” and “coffee stains all over the kitchen” in examining the lingering remnants of a morning before the rush sets in. EP finale “Spent Match” then emerges with hypnotic lushness, with a head-nodding bass line complemented by twangy guitar gestures. Descriptions of a candle “dying in the dark” and providing “my spark” further a sense of love and adoration, hopefully continuing to burn despite the toll of being that “spent match,” as ardent delivery progresses into more electric guitar complements. Lizet Aviva fully captivates across her striking self-titled EP.
