Chaiah is a soft ‘ch’ sound at Lizard Lounge on Wednesday, 19 February 2025.

Mingko, Dear Dea, and LAVAGXRL complete the puzzle.

DJ spots by Lilith in the interstitial spaces.

Once upon a time Pieces was a beat tape compilation put out by EveryDejaVu. Since that mythological pre-era, the concept has evolved to encompass live shows. Pieces III came together in Cambridge’s favorite rubylit cavern, Lizard Lounge. Whether beat tape or live show, the concept of ‘Pieces’ flashes a kind of anthological warmth and an embrace of experiment.

Some of the performing artists have released music on the label, some haven’t.

LAVAGXRL has; her full-length Faith In Chaos dropped in late 2023. The major waves of the album washed up on the shores of electro pop, with some slippery production that mood-shifted into eclectic shades of RnB, neo soul, and hip hop.

Sounds like the artist has a new ambient album on the way – she interspersed short samples between her more conventional pop numbers. A sonic juke presaged by her opening slot at a Claire Rousay show (“Peace In The Middle East”) last September. If LAVAGXRL is looking for a roadmap, then Rousay, an artist who has cut their teeth on the intersection between pop and ambient, can certainly provide some direction.

Straight outta Finland! The artist Dear Dea performed a jazzy, vocals-forward set with the help of a stateside keyboardist (Elijah?) who must’ve hit the gig fresh from the hospital, bedecked in his maroon scrubs. The pair rehearsed a bit before the show, then it was off to the races. You can do that in jazz, pick up on short notice, if all the musicians involved know the standards or the basic principles of improvisational playing. Dear Dea has an old school jazz phrasing (despite a few Spanish bars, I think?), and the keyboardist rolled out the red carpet beneath her vocals.

Mingko is an artrock band that offered the most guitar-driven attack of the night. But their recent EP THUMB! opens with synth-heavy textures on the opening track “cute.” So there’s no prevailing musical dogma here, though the five-piece visibly enjoys the growl and bounce of an electric guitar unleashed. They’re also capable of a sustained, droney approach – though they may have simply been tuning their instruments between songs. The fronter revealed, to massive applause, that she had her wisdom tooth removed.

Another EveryDejaVu artist, Chaiah, pronounced with a soft “ch,” I think? She released Control Release last November. An album that resists categorization, but you wouldn’t be crazy to make the connection to jazz hop. A single saxophone honked over the seven-piece ensemble while the fronter floated sometimes song, sometimes rap over live and digital percussion. Extra points for improvisational solos sprinkled throughout.

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