KAVARI on her new EP, PLAGUE MUSIC

“It's been going crazy,” KAVARI says about the reaction to IRON VEINS, the lead single from her upcoming EP – released an hour before our call. The enthusiasm comes as no surprise with the Glasgow-based producer amassing an avid following, counting Aphex Twin, Ninajirachi and Ethel Cain among her supporters. KAVARI’s debut release on XL Recordings, PLAGUE MUSIC, marks a departure from her recent stretch as an independent artist. With XL’s backing, her horror-drenched, razor-sharp vision has been able to expand both sonically and visually.

Each track on PLAGUE MUSIC plummets the listener into a different facet of KAVARI’s imagination. PULSE opens the EP with a sample of Salad Fingers’ faltering voice, before building momentum through the punctuated bleeps of a heart monitor; IRON VEINS fuses rapid breakbeats with guttural cries; SERPENT CHAMBER distorts dubstep with layers of noise and texture; and SCYTHE culminates in a feverish nightmare of muted voices and fits of coughing. While the four tracks are entirely distinct, the project is a cohesive response to a period of KAVARI’s life. “[It was a] year-long process of scrapping the demos and redoing them, I think SERPENT CHAMBER had five different versions,” she says, “I couldn't decide which one would hit the hardest, so I stayed awake for three days straight and sat in Ableton and just went crazy.” The end result responds to themes ranging from personal health and paranoia, to the state of EDM and the occult.

While creating the EP at the beginning of 2025, an incident occurred which brought matters of health to the fore. “I had this really bad experience where I got spiked at an afterparty. It sent me absolutely loopy for about a month. I was in and out of hospital and was really struggling to distinguish reality from what was in my head.” KAVARI used her art as a means to process the attack: “As much as I don't like discomfort and pain, I feel like it was a bit of creative inspiration that helped shape the music into what it [is].” The intensity of this experience is felt throughout the EP, with KAVARI’s production remaining menacing and uncompromising – a deliberate contrast with most contemporary dance music. “This EP specifically was my take on how EDM is this genre of happiness, peace and love,” KAVARI says, ”I wanted to keep the energy of that while bringing in this more guttural [feeling]. Instead of hearing this nice, cute melody, you're hearing a heartbeat monitor that you're hooked up to.”

Image: Bernardo Martins.

As the title suggests, PLAGUE MUSIC never strays far from motifs of disease and disorder. I ask why this might be: “I've always had really bad health anxiety,” KAVARI explains, “growing up I was quite a sick kid so I was constantly in and out of doctors and getting different medications, tubes in me [and] checkups. I think that's informed a lot of my work because it's very body horror-based.” A glance at the artwork for KAVARI’s previous music confirms this – even XL’s signature cover has the addition of blood red lacerations. She explains her relationship with the macabre: “It's a comfort thing. My mum was really into horror, she used to take me to haunted houses and séances and all this different creepy stuff. [I was] surrounded by it [so] it became part of my environment.” Almost on cue, KAVARI’s shadowy cat leaps into the call. Behind the pair, a TV appears to flicker a montage of found footage – KAVARI’s appreciation for the eerie is consistent through her music, art and online image.

Through these precise aesthetic interests, KAVARI formed a friendship with visual artist, Game Nova: “We found each other online and all our visual interests and general artistic tastes matched perfectly.” When XL proposed a music video for IRON VEINS, KAVARI gave Game Nova complete creative freedom: “We didn't really have to discuss the music video, I just said, ‘I trust you completely’ and after seeing it, I couldn't have been happier.” The result is a twisted interpretation of Alice in Wonderland, shot in stark monochrome on an infrared camera. With no constraints placed on their collaborative vision, the music video makes a perfect complement to the visceral production on the track.

With a spot accompanying Ninajirachi on her tour in March, how does KAVARI feel about playing PLAGUE MUSIC to the world? “When I'm making my music it's so personal, [so] playing it in front of crowds sometimes cringes me out a little.” Despite the awkwardness of laying her art bare, the response lessens the blow, “It's also a nice feeling because I'm exposed but people are receptive to it.” By the time we end our call, the announcement for IRON VEINS has clocked up hundreds of likes and comments from zealous fans. If the reaction over the last two hours is anything to go by, then KAVARI’s vulnerability will be met with an outpouring of warmth.

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PLAGUE MUSIC is out on 6 Feb via XL Recordings; KAVARI plays SWG3 Warehouse, Glasgow, 21 Mar