Your Day Will Come
is the full-length debut of
Chanel Beads
, a project helmed by multifaceted musician
Shane Lavers
. A Minnesota native who launched the project in Seattle in the late 2010s before relocating to New York City to pursue music in earnest,
Lavers
combines real, synthetic, and manipulated instrument sounds in his songs, which are influenced by experimental music, '80s sophisti-pop, and artists like
Animal Collective
,
David Sylvian
, and
Steve Reich
. A noteworthy inspiration for the ambiguously titled
, which doubles as
'
Jagjaguwar
debut, was the notion of "fake jazz," a term coined by
Donald Fagen
in the TV documentary Classic Albums - Steely Dan: Aja. Another, perhaps conceptually related feature of
' approach, are the muddied, frizzled textures achieved by intentionally printing down tracks. This process complements the album's sometimes ghostly, vague sophisti-pop references, making for an album that sounds familiar -- but not quite. It opens with string voices, bouncy strummed guitar, and something like handclaps or manipulated snare on "Dedicated to the World," an appropriately dreamy entry point. While he takes a similar approach to the marriage of things real and artificial throughout the album, some of the more conspicuous variations include the melancholy, drum-less "Idea June," which turns lead vocals over to touring bandmate
Maya McGrory
, whose airy delivery is not terribly dissimilar to
' high-pitched, often-distorted voice here. Also in this category are the beats-assisted half-rap of "Embarrassed Dog," the grunge-tinged "Urn," and the
Prefab Sprout
-haunted "I Think I Saw." ("Unifying Though" employs what sounds like that group's distinctive, light-as-air backing vocals, although sparingly.) The album's centerpiece, however, is an instrumental, the sprawling, more compositional "Coffee Culture," which at nearly six minutes is also by far its longest entry. It's one of several tracks here to feature another touring bandmate, violinist
Zachary Schwartz
, and the only one with saxophonist
Henry Solomon
. Along the way, some of
' cited recording tricks include processed violin and bass run through MIDI. Time will tell if
is snatched up for work in scoring or if he will develop his songwriting on future albums, but based on this under-30-minute taste, his handiwork seems destined for continuation. ~ Marcy Donelson