The band's debut album Tree of Series streets June 4th and has already gained praise from MTV Hive ("very direct about their intentions") and Impose magazine ("Amid the piano tidals...Xander Naylor plays off the stick clicking percussion that navigates you through the song's various room suites and sound streams").
Made possible by a successful 2011 Kickstarter campaign, the album combines skillful jazz musicianship reminiscent of John Frusciante and Joni Mitchell with the avant-garde vocal acrobatics of Florance & the Machine, Fiona Apple, and Portishead. After graduating with a BFA in Jazz Performance, releasing a solo EP "The Agony and Ecstasy of...", and moving to Brooklyn in 2008, Stephanie Carlin formed Avidya & the Kleshas with musicians she met through Craigslist. The band consists of Wes Reid (percussion), Russ Flynn (bass), Xander Naylor (electric guitar) and Javi Santiago (piano/keys).
Inspired by eastern philosophy, Carlin has been hailed as an artist "that completely understands the role of music in our lives" (Pen's Eye View). Avidya means "ignorance" in Sanskrit. It is one of the 5 Kleshas outlined in Yoga Sutras that help us to acknowledge our unwise thoughts, words, and actions so they can be relinquished in the interest of achieving enlightenment. Avidya & the Kleshas will be playing live at Tea Lounge in Brooklyn on 6/28/13.
