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Jun 06, 2022 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Mark Ochinero

Chanel Beads is the experimental electronic project from songwriter musician Shane Lavers and his frequent collaborator, Maya Collette. The project was born from a series of DIY live shows in Seattle, though it has grown in scope with Lavers’ recent move to Brooklyn and the 2018 release of the first Chanel Beads EP, Zut Alor. Today, the pair are back with a new double-sided single, Ef/Shining Armor, premiering with Under the Radar.

“Ef,” the first of the two tracks, could inspire comparisons with Animal Collective with its experimental approach to pop and its marriage of electronic and acoustic elements. Dreamy washes of synths interlock with chiming guitar lines, wiry melodies, and crystalline vocals, crafting a track with an intriguing pop core lying within the playful songcraft. In contrast, “Shining Armor” is more subtle and idiosyncratic. The track’s foundation is a constant tense pulse, with wild bursts of electronics, guitar, and distortion breaking through the hypnotic haze. Meanwhile, in the latter half the track shifts into a warm ambient drone, carrying the track to its end with an otherworldly soundscape.

Lavers says of the tracks, “I wrote ‘Ef’ and ‘Shining Armor’ as companion pieces, inspired by cyclical feelings of change and a desperate desire to pull meaning out of mundanity. Lyrically, ‘Ef’ is focused on our ability to truly give ourselves to others and question if the impulse for self-sacrifice is actually an altruistic one. It’s also sonically inspired by a description of ‘fake, fake jazz’ by Donald Fagen as well as being immersed in the decades of self-referential sampling that has now come to dominate popular music. Rather than discern what is genuine, what is synthesized, and what is sampled, these two tracks attempt to portray the music plainly and emotionally naked.

This release was recorded and self-produced at home in Seattle and later in Brooklyn. Zachary Paul fleshed out Shining Armor with acoustic piano, treated guitar, and his signature violin drones. Both tracks are mastered by Cameron Heck in Seattle, Washington.”

Get early listens to both songs below.