As a child, toying with rusty remnants found in the small Estonian village of Vara, Mart Avi couldn’t have known that years later he would translate the experience into an R’n’B-tinged hyperpop single. “Village Affairs” is the artist’s first release since last year’s LP, Blade, and sees Avi taking a softer approach. Holy Motors’ Eliann Tulve provides the backing vocals on a sparse, alluring tune, full of gently swaying electronics and a leisurely drum beat.
Avi is in a reflective mood here, as he explains: “It is a set of hazy recollections from a village I grew up in — a place that since then has changed beyond recognition. It’s based on real events and circumstances – some joyous, some dumb and rowdy — from days when we bruised our minds and talked about the future.”
Avi captures this shifting sense of time well, and though the track is somewhat nostalgic, it’s never to the point of oversentimentality. Bitterness ekes its way into the vocals, imbuing the track with an underlying tension. Mart Avi has a habit of musically twisting the known into the unknown, it was only a matter of time before his hometown followed suit.
Listen to “Village Affairs” below or find it on streamers.
