Mart Avi is the twilight samurai of alternative pop, known for making spiky and mysterious music for the feet and heart, for living and loving. He grew up in a pint-sized Estonian village named Vara (“Treasure” in English), toying around with rusty remnants from its industrious past that informed his aesthetics in creating another space, using topographies close at hand. Mapping uncharted territories between modern pop and timeless grandeur, Avi, as a sound master and singer-songwriter, is simultaneously suave and slippery. His shimmering melodies, crackling rhythms and off-kilter mindgames tend to seduce the unawares.
A consummate performer, he presents a fascinating paradox of soulful tenderness pulsing beneath commanding arm thrusts and menacing high kicks. Avi’s solo records have consistently topped annual critics’ polls in his homeland and garnered rave reviews worldwide, from MOJO to The Quietus and Electronic Sound. Late 2024 saw the release of Death of Music, a joint double LP in collaboration with Ajukaja, the reverend of Estonia’s adventurous underground.
Mart Avi
