"Corners - Chanel Beads Rework" is a pervasive haunt, a self reflective mirror that stared into long enough might just purge some inner demons leaving you sweaty but refreshed.
The telling heartbeat and eerie iridescence of "Corners - Chanel Beads Rework", a reimagining of Brooklyn's LEYA's "Corners", feels so hypnotic that the 4 minute and 22 second experience seems to only last 60 seconds. That is quite remarkable and I can tell you there are a fair amount of songs that extend time instead of shortening it. Before I share some of my thoughts I will say that I am probably woefully unqualified to review this sonic art having not delved into LEYA's creations before. I mean, I was going to only share this track because it felt like the right thing to do being a neophyte to LEYA's work but then this rework began poking around corners in my brain at different times during the day and when that starts to happen it is a good sign that I need to investigate why.
LEYA, by the way, is a duo and as I have peered at their work I would say their sound is at once experimental and darkly dreamy but these LINER notes are needed, all LINER notes not penned by me will be bracketed.
[LEYA - the duo of harpist Marilu Donovan and vocalist/violinist Adam Markiewicz - has long inhabited a beguiling world, blending Medieval-sounding origins with modern folk, classical, pop, and more. From deep roots in the NYC underground to international recognition as a crossover force, their work has found its way into spaces ranging from the club to fashion runways to Pornhub, and beyond.]
[LEYA - the duo of harpist Marilu Donovan and vocalist/violinist Adam Markiewicz - has long inhabited a beguiling world, blending Medieval-sounding origins with modern folk, classical, pop, and more. From deep roots in the NYC underground to international recognition as a crossover force, their work has found its way into spaces ranging from the club to fashion runways to Pornhub, and beyond.]
I listened to the source material, "Corners", which feels much more spiralling dark. Full of dissonance and colliding tensions, it feels like a depressive operatic purge and there overall is not sonic relief. Much of the kind of temporal horror (if I may be as bold to put it that way) is the purposeful way that LEYA tunes Donovan's harp. (More LINER NOTES needed):
[The basis of LEYA is the unique tuning system of the harp, designed by Donovan for the project, which pairs with the distinctly wide, operatic singing range of Markiewicz, who further blends these vocals with processed violin tones. The template for this sound is found on their 2018 debut The Fool and further developed on their 2020 breakthrough follow-up Flood Dream, which the New York Times called “the auditory equivalent of awakening in the fog of a bad dream only to discover you’re still trapped in the nightmare.” This sense of unease has become a distinctive tone for the project, a sort of collision of beauty and calamity that both soothes and disturbs its listeners.]
This "rework", "reimagining" (for me) flips the script on the original. Still darkly dreamy, the rhythms expressed via drum work and percussive muted strikes on stringed instruments as well as double time swelling drones of sound serve to give this dark, mysterious plunge into unknown voids a heartbeat. It swings and Shane Lavers' added vocals bouncing with more pop prowess while still very melancholy runs into that aforementioned void. I would say that both the original and this rework by Chanel Beads are highly cinematic but they might be in different movies or be different movies. The original in a film by Brandon Cronenberg and the reworking in a film by Ari Aster. One thing is for sure, "Corners - Chanel Beads Rework" is the kind of song that listened to by a filmmaker would, I feel, inspire images in their head or inspire a movie itself.
[Reflecting on the track, Chanel Beads’ Shane Lavers shared: “When Maya McGrory and I moved to New York City, LEYA were our heroes. Their music takes control of the stage and focuses the room in a way no one else could. Reworking this song I tried to make something that felt like the moments before and after their sets. Like anticipating something and then wondering where it went. Zachary Paul added additional violin and Maya sings with me. Every idea we tried recording on this track was used in some way.”]
[ "Corners - Chanel Beads Rework" arrives alongside a hazy, DIY self-directed music video starring model Mariah Morvant, as both artists tour in support of their highly acclaimed 2024 releases.]
"Corners - Chanel Beads Rework" is a pervasive haunt, a self reflective mirror that stared into long enough might just purge some inner demons leaving you sweaty but refreshed.
[LEYA’s latest release, their EP "I Forget Everything", marks their first return to the studio since 2022’s Eyeline and their first solo work since 2020’s Flood Dream.]
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://leya.bandcamp.com/album/flood-dream
https://www.instagram.com/crying2leya/
https://www.facebook.com/officialLEYA/
LEYA - the duo of harpist Marilu Donovan and vocalist/violinist Adam Markiewicz - has long inhabited a beguiling world, blending Medieval-sounding origins with modern folk, classical, pop, and more. From deep roots in the NYC underground to international recognition as a crossover force, their work has found its way into spaces ranging from the club to fashion runways to Pornhub, and beyond.
The basis of LEYA is the unique tuning system of the harp, designed by Donovan for the project, which pairs with the distinctly wide, operatic singing range of Markiewicz, who further blends these vocals with processed violin tones. The template for this sound is found on their 2018 debut The Fool and further developed on their 2020 breakthrough follow-up Flood Dream, which the New York Times called “the auditory equivalent of awakening in the fog of a bad dream only to discover you’re still trapped in the nightmare.” This sense of unease has become a distinctive tone for the project, a sort of collision of beauty and calamity that both soothes and disturbs its listeners.
LEYA’s distinctive sound was quickly noticed by other artists, starting with the release of their first single. In 2018 they were approached by rapper Brooke Candy to provide scoring and live acting for her adult film I Love You, which was produced by Pornhub for its Visionaries' Directors Series and featured sound design by Sega Bodega. After an initial feature on The Fool, they followed in 2019 with the collaborative EP Angel Lust with Eartheater, with whom they have continued a close working relationship. In 2020 they released work with Actress, Liturgy, Drew McDowall (Coil/Psychic TV), and Christina Vantzou. In 2022 they released a fully collaborative mixtape comprised almost solely of features titled Eyeline. Other notable collaborators have included Ecco2K, Varg2TM, Julie Byrne, Okay Kaya, claire rousay, Deli Girls, James K, and many more.
LEYA’s latest release, I Forget Everything, marks their first return to the studio since 2022’s Eyeline and their first solo work since 2020’s Flood Dream. It comes on the heels of a relentless multi-year touring schedule, which began when COVID travel restrictions were lifted in 2021 and saw the duo performing steadily across the world through late 2023. Amidst this time, while working with many of the aforementioned collaborators, they also paired with fashion designers including Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein x i-D, Acne Studios, Elena Velez, HoodbyAir, video artists including Charles Atlas and Jeremiah Carter, choreographers including Loni Landon, and myriad others in varying modes of performance, scoring, and installations.
Since returning from tour, LEYA have sought to return to the basics of their raw sound but have also reimagined their language, harnessing production experiments percolating in their tangential work in recent years. I Forget Everything marks their first solo release containing elements of electronic production, sourcing from home-recorded to high-fidelity sounds, tracing the bounds of new experiments, while remaining rooted in harp, strings, and voice as the sole source of these sounds. The work regards a “haven scorned,” shifting in perspective between the larger world and one that is private, even imagined. A reaction to calamity, it imagines that abandonment is necessary. The work will mark only the beginning of a new path for LEYA amidst ever-expanding horizons.
LEYA, Chanel Beads, Brooklyn New York, dream pop, filmic music, experimental, darkly dreamy, romantic, "Corners - Chanel Beads Rework" (Official Video), "I Forget Everything" EP, harp and violin, operatic vocals,
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