Chanel Beads

Using a combination of real, synthetic, and manipulated instruments, Chanel Beads is the project of New York-based musician Shane Lavers, whose dreamy indie electronic songs are influenced by ‘80s acts like the Blue Nile and Prefab Sprout and sound collage as well as the notion of “fake jazz,” a term coined by Donald Fagen. The multi-instrumentalist recorded Chanel Beads’ debut album, 2024′s ambiguously titled Your Day Will Come, with contributions from his live band. Shane Lavers grew up in suburban Minnesota, where his parents listened mostly to country-pop and Karen Carpenter, and his older brother tended toward Southern rap and bands including Slipknot. He developed his own eclectic tastes on torrent sites, where he discovered everything from ambient music to the Beach Boys. After graduating from college in 2016, he followed a friend to Seattle, where he played basement shows while working a day job filling orders for books through the Washington Talking Book and Braille Library. The job allowed him to listen to music for eight hours a day, and at one point, he considered getting a master’s in library science. After a couple years, his interest in music won out, and he began writing songs in earnest. Using the moniker Chanel Beads, he released the EP Zut Alors in mid-2018 while still mastering equipment and fashioning his sound. Lavers then relocated to New York City, and acts including the Blue Nile, Prefab Sprout, and David Sylvian influenced the hazy, often uneasy, pandemic-informed songs he was writing by 2022. Thematically, they captured reflections of the flawed human experience. With Lavers performing the bulk of the instruments himself, he recorded the project’s debut album with help from a handful of others, including singer Maya McGrory (Cole) and violinist/experimental musician Zachary Paul, both members of his live band. The idea of “fake jazz” — a quip by Donald Fagen in a Steely Dan documentary — became part of his production philosophy, as he incorporated synthesizers, programmed drums, and things like processed violin, bass played through MIDI, and vocal effects into an instrument palette that also included acoustic and electric guitars, live bass, percussion, and various keyboards. Chanel Beads landed a record deal with prestige indie label Jagjaguwar for the April 2024 release of the project’s full-length debut, Your Day Will Come. ~ Marcy Donelson