Brothers Joey and Kevin Semaan, and their childhood friend Roy Andraos, began making music together in middle school and grew up performing under a variety of names before ultimately emerging as Pēlikel in 2019. Their debut album, Shambles, is a collection of early writings that trace the band’s evolution from their beginnings as a youthful hard rock group into the more refined progressive rock identity they would later embrace. The record moves fluidly between styles, featuring classic rock–leaning tracks like ‘She’s Backstage’ alongside more expansive, progressive compositions such as ‘Smoked Candles’. In this sense, the album stands as a time capsule capturing a pivotal coming-of-age moment that ultimately defined the band’s sound.

The material came together at the Bach Music Institute studios in Beirut, Lebanon, during weekly jam and writing sessions. When the institute’s founder, musician Bachar Sawaya, heard about these sessions, he strongly believed in the project and chose to support part of its production. Initial recording sessions were held at Sonocraft Studios, with further production, final recording, and mixing completed at Triptych Studio under the guidance of producer Charbel Haddad. The process stretched over two years, largely due to Roy’s relocation to Montreal in 2019, which meant that much of his recording had to happen intermittently during brief visits back to Lebanon.

Only after the writing process was complete did a unifying theme begin to emerge. Across its eight tracks, the album explores ideas of societal disorder and dysfunction, as well as personal themes of loss, deception, and the fragile, often flawed relationships we maintain with ourselves and others. Each song tells its own story, dissecting a different facet of a world in disarray, an approach that reflects this coming-of-age impulse to question everything at once.

By the time production got underway, Roy was already living in Montreal, recording in Lebanon only occasionally. He returned briefly for the release show on August 24, 2021, at Metro Al Madina, a major performance that would become Pēlikel’s final show for a long time. The night marked both a celebration and a turning point: as the show ended at 11 p.m., Kevin prepared to leave just hours later for a 4 a.m. flight to Montreal to pursue his studies in cinema. That moment signaled the beginning of a long pause in Pēlikel’s journey.