Electro rockers Chandeliers have been keen on experimentation ever since they emerged from South Loop arts hub Shape Shoppe in 2004. Their debut album, 2008’s The Thrush, uses sharply defined Krautrock percussion, crystalline techno synths, and dreamy psychedelic melodies, but since then the group have guided their progressive, shape-shifting style toward boogie (aka “modern funk”). A few years ago Chandeliers linked up with a label immersed in that world: Potions, an imprint of eclectic New York-via-Chicago operation Cherries, which released the band’s 2017 single “Cruisin” as the A side of its first seven-inch. (A couple members also played on the B side, in the group Songs for Gods.) The clustered, blown-out percussion, ricocheting laser-beam synths, and forlorn falsetto vocals of “Cruisin” inject avant-garde flair into the burgeoning boogie scene. Last year, Potions put out a new 100-copy run of Chandeliers’ most recent album, 2017’s Law of Fives, where the band continue to explore the outer reaches of their sound. The squelching synth patterns and backmasked percussion on “Nautilus” exemplify how their strange affectations can make for hypnotic dance music. v
Chicago’s Chandeliers have spent more than 15 years exploring dance music’s fringes
