By Jenell Taylor, Columns and Features Editor 

[Jagjaguwar; 2025]

Rating: 7/10

Brooklyn-based experiential musician Chanel Beads (Shane Lavers) is exploring the necessity for care and understanding with his new single, “The Coward Forgets His Nightmare.” In 2024, the transcendent album Your Day Will Come was released with a focus on control and how to keep it in a world that refuses to stay the same. In a statement about the new track, Lavers said that it’s “dedicated to the love we are given.”    

Bounding off the path that Your Day Will Come has paved, “The Coward Forgets His Nightmare” is a hazy cloud of smoke that glistens in the morning sun. Laver inspects all corners of emotion and the act of feeling with lyrics that hit hard for those who relate. “Don’t think anyone could ever feel this bad/ I think I’m one in a million, dip the kep inside the bag.” Engaging in behaviors that may be destructive to the body isn’t off limits to Lavers, but rather a line of curiosity that motions to be explored. 

Read more: Album Review: Maruja – Pain to Power

The single’s cover is a reference to Pink Floyd’s 1979 album, The Wall; and similarly, it shares the sentiment of going at length to guard yourself from emotional harm. “The Coward Forgets His Nightmare” is a prophetic call to action to fully observe what might feel like torment and to give yourself the space to reframe it. It includes a stunning addition of violin accompaniment from Zachary Paul and dreamy supporting vocals by Maya McGrory. They dance together on the track, fluttering and creating waves of iridescence. In doing so, the essence of desire is felt wholly, and encapsulates its theme.

The upbeat and catchy nature of this track set against its misty, bittersweet lyrics is reflective of Laver’s message: outer adversities don’t have to be the backdrop of how you view life. The constant repetition of “In all my memories,” is hopeful, sincere and deliberate. Laver’s brief disregard of personal setbacks is akin to that first breath of air after holding your breath underwater. A lot of his music explores that theme with “Ef” being the most prominent. On that track, we hear McGrory’s voice asking, “If I don’t know now, will my instinct be good?”

Chanel Beads continues his search for the philosophical with “The Coward Forgets His Nightmare,” by weaving in and out of clarity. In the ambiguous nature of the track’s sound, he leaves the door open for interpretation and personal meaning. The “coward” could be Lavers or it could be you. Cowardice is a state of being that forgets none and leaves your cheeks stinging and red from too much wind. You can catch Chanel Beads on tour opening for Lorde or at his own shows here.