L. Alex Guy (as Led to Sea) is one of those artists, like St. Vincent or Andrew Bird, who approaches pop music with the eye of a classical composer, breaking down and rebuilding pop tropes into something resembling fine art. Guy is an accomplished violist, having lent her talents to the likes of Laura Veirs, Mirah, Xiu Xiu, and Seattle's art-punk collective, Degenerate Art Ensemble. Her music can be a challenging, sometimes frustrating, but it always sweeps up through pop and rock on its way back to chamber music, and her voice is always expressive and engaging. It's a constant balancing act, combining classical and pop. But in Led to Sea's case, Guy is able to have her cake and eat it too. 

[Northern, with Mirah, Kane Mathis, 8 p.m., all ages, $7, 321 Fourth Ave., Olympia, northernolympia.org]