Chanel Beads’ music has always been in a weird gap bouncing around emotional sincerity and sonic disorientation. Shane Lavers’ songs pull from experimental electronics, orchestral arrangements and folk songwriting, with a raw, rock delivery, almost reminding me of Billy Corgan. At The Blue Room last week, that unfiltered collision shaped up an hour long set that left that music flowing through your bones. 

Opening with “Nina Night,” Chanel Beads established the atmosphere that made Lavers one of the more difficult artists in contemporary indie music to categorize. The songs rarely offer the immediate gratification of conventional indie-rock hooks in acts like Wallows. Instead, melodies come through fragmented vocals and out-of-the-box samples. “Profane Break” through “Unifying Thought” continued that approach, setting the tone for the performance that was more about atmosphere over resolutions song to song. 

Chanel Beads has never rested solely on its experimental or avant-garde production. Lavers’ music feels personal mainly because it doesn’t separate sincerity from the processed sounds and effects used to express it. This results in a sound that is almost intimate given how loud and unfiltered it is, with some elements like the violin usually drowned out. 

“Dust in the Wind” and “Idea June” continued that feeling of melody as something to discover with the band rather than have instantaneously in the set. On Your Day Will Come, Lavers typically delays a cookie-cutter hook, allowing the tension without one to become the driving force echoing throughout the song. “Dust in the Wind” is especially relevant here, balancing an elusive guitar riff with direct, in detail lyricism only topped by “Song for the Messenger.” 

Throughout the middle of the set, Chanel Beads played “Outside Your Life,” which I would call the emotional centerpiece of their latest record. It builds around instrumental passages that climax with a four-line hook and two-line post-chorus that soar with strings and a unique drum loop, but ultimately leaving the emotional weight on the sparse lyricism. Lavers allows the song to sustain its tension, with guitarist Maya’s countermelody releasing the tension, but still not resolving. This is what separates Chanel Beads from other contemporary R&B like Mk.gee or Junior Mesa. 

More uncertainty comes into play on “The Coward Forgets His Nightmare,” which lyrically question whether music provides the salvation listeners often seek from it. The song’s shift from believing that music could save someone to wishing it had done so is quite a strong feel. This art isn’t presented as a solution to suffering, more so, it acknowledges that understanding an experience doesn’t make it easier to get over or live through. Closing with “Police Scanner” brought Chanel Beads back to what popularized them years ago with that nostalgic 80s synth sound. After moving through the rather loud experimentation and fragmented conversations that naturally coexist, this outro allowed this set to go back to what got their sound this abstract and unrecognizable. 

What makes Chanel Beads compelling is not just its ability to combine diverse influences, but how they don’t resolve sonically reflects the uncertainty of underground and indie music. At The Blue Room, that idea stood tall, leaving a sound that I felt clatter my bones as I left.