"This may be the best release yet by Avi C. Engel. It is a near perfect melding, of a great voice, innovative and engaging instrumental arrangements, and thoughtful and inspiring song writing. If you are not familiar with Avi C. Engel’s work, it is an excellent introduction."
- At The Barrier
atthebarrier.com/2024/03/15/avi-c-engel-too-many-souls-album-review/

"Invitingly tuneful yet sonically adventurous, there is a cyclical dynamic at play that rewards repeated listening. Avi C. Engel operates at the edge of darkness, the underlying warmth of their creations radiating light and hope from within. Too Many Souls serves as a wonderful introduction to this rarest of talents."
- Fran Carlyon, Heavy Metal Kids
heavymetalkids.music.blog/2024/02/15/avi-c-engel-too-many-souls/

"one of the dreamiest affairs the songwriter has delivered."
- Simon Kirk, Sun 13
sun-13.com/2024/02/23/avi-c-engel-too-many-souls/

"“Folk” is a vague catch-all for music that often feels ambient in effect with echoes of early darkwave by such artists as Dead Can Dance. Engel is a master of numerous stringed instruments, including the gudok, an ancient Slavic lute-shaped instrument played with a bow. Their last few albums have employed related stringed instruments, such as the gusli and talharpa, to unify music that often sounds ageless in origin."
- Popmatters
www.popmatters.com/avi-c-engel-too-many-souls

"Another fine dark meditation by this Canadian artist, who formerly recorded as Clara Engel. The set’s quietly weeping instrumentation and vocals feel as though they’re staggering under the weight of something like a big rock. The overall feel is similar to the last Engel tape I heard, although its profile is a bit less rural. The instruments move in shimmering waves that are sure to repress the spring fever that may be possessing some of you. Lovely stuff."
- Byron Coley, The Wire Issue 482
www.thewire.co.uk/issues/482

"There will be lots of great albums released this year I’m sure yet few will have anything approaching the kind of artistic depth and vision shown here. The 33-minutes of music on the album have an immersive and transformative power. It’s a calming, restorative and otherworldly experience. If you’re exhausted and burnt out by the world then this is your chance to stop and reconnect. Too Many Souls feels like an oasis of calm and beauty in a world gone mad."
- Andy Brown, Louder Than War
louderthanwar.com/avi-c-engel-too-many-souls-album-review/

"“Too many Souls” is a hauntingly bewitching album; an album that carries the acoustically sonic ambience of the Gene Clark “No Other” LP – it carries the same atmosphere, the sound of mother earth placing her arms around you gently caressing, running her fingers through your hair whispering that all will be all right."
- Brian Bordello, Monolith Cocktail
monolithcocktail.com/2024/03/04/our-daily-bread-613-poundland-john-howard-the-blow-monkeys-mark-e-moon/

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DOWNLOAD DIGITAL DIRECT FROM THE ARTIST: aviengel.bandcamp.com/album/too-many-souls

Avi C. Engel is an independent non-binary artist and musician based in Toronto. Their most recent album, Too Many Souls, features voice, acoustic guitar, gudok (a 3-string Slavic bowed instrument), percussion, and melodica. Genre-agnostic, handmade music that is playful, sorrowful, and ecstatic. Plucked and bowed stringed instruments and organic ramshackle wooden percussion build sensory worlds that coalesce with Engel's sung-poetry.

In the words of Byron Coley: "There's a very dark centre to the music, recalling the gothier moves of 4AD artists, but the clarity of Engel's vision creates something far less commercial sounding than that infers. Deep woods, gloam, mists...these are all elements evoked by Engel's music. Hard to believe they've been doing music this good for that long without more notice." (The Wire, Sept 2023)

"I'm not writing the same song over and over so much as writing one long continuous song that will end when I die." (Engel)

CD available from somnimage.bandcamp.com