Stream: Pageants, ‘Chai ( חַי)’

Kevin Bronson on August 29th, 2017

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There was a time, around 2015, when Rebecca Coleman and Devin O’Brien — who along with Dylan Wood comprise Pageants — thought the release of their debut album was imminent. It was tentatively titled “Can’t Smile” back then, which became a literal truth as talks with record labels dead-ended, and O’Brien, who plays in Cherry Glazerr, and Wood, who plays in Best Coast, got busy with their other projects. But now, seven years after Coleman left Avi Buffalo and embarked on Pageants, the album does have a release date, Nov. 3. And it’s titled (wink) “Forever.”

The uncomplicated charm that was Pageants’ allure in the early days still echoes through the band’s girl group-derived dream-pop today; the easy melodies are sheathed in warm, fuzzy drone, and Coleman’s diary abstractions are delivered in a cherubic, plaintive and sometimes melancholic voice. Although “Forever” will contain 2013’s sublime “Musings of the Tide” and opens with “Lingr” (teased early this year), the album’s first official single is “Chai ( חַי).” Coleman explains: “It’s [pronounced] ‘hay,’ which is the Hebrew word for life. It’s about a general disdain for adult things, and was written after all the touring [with Avi Buffalo] when I was coming back to real life and feeling some kind of pressure to adjust,” she told i-D, where the song premiered. File under gorgeous reveries; “Forever” has them in abundance.

||| Stream: “Chai ( חַי)”