Zee Avi

7:30 p.m. Monday, October 3. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue.

Sep 29, 2011 at 4:00 am

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The Malaysia-born singer and songwriter Zee Avi stands atop a spire like it's a tree fort, like her ukulele is a pop-gun rifle, like her smoke-ringed voice has nowhere to go but up, up, up. Such is the pose she strikes on the latest of her infectious videos, and so too is the sound of her sophomore album, ghostbird. She knows if she'd rock she'd tumble, her jazz-folk love songs would wither into schmaltz. She's careful and as vulnerable as a friend who pulls up a chair and whispers, "I have a song I wrote just for you." Her talent makes you believe it.

Believe It or Not: Avi's low-budget videos first caught the eye and ear of Patrick Keeler of the Raconteurs. They've gone on to millions of views.