SEVEN IN SEVEN
Welcome to Seven in Seven, where we typically take a look at shows coming to the region over the next week. And while venue doors are opening again, due to the current pandemic they aren’t quite there yet. That doesn’t mean the music stops, and new releases are coming out weekly from artists you know and love and some waiting to be discovered. Each week we’ll be looking at some of the best hitting shelves and streaming services and a can’tmiss show in the region.
Whether your musical tastes are rock and roll, jazz, heavy metal, R&B, singer-songwriter or indie, there’ll always be something to check out. Here’s what’s on the docket for the week of March 11:
Show of the week 1
The Swell Season — Merriam Theater — March 14
To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the surprise hit film “Once,” Irish folk troubadours Markéta Irglová and Glen Hansard are performing their first shows together in over a decade under the Swell Season moniker. Since its 2007 release, “Once” has become a classic and a cultural touchstone referenced in everything from “The Simpsons” to, most recently, “Ted Lasso.” The musical is a favorite to be staged by high schools and colleges everywhere, with “Falling Slowly” earning a spot as a seasonal favorite for shows like “The Voice” and “American Idol.” The Merriam show will highlight songs from the Swell Season and “Once,” as well as Irglová and Hansard’s individual careers.
New releases
2
New Horizon — “Gate of the Gods”
Vocalist Erik Grönwall and songwriter/producer/ multi-instrumentalist Jona Tee, former bandmates in H.E.A.T., continue their musical partnership by unleashing New Horizon, their new power metal brainchild.
Following a few months of secretive work in the studio, the pair brings forth a record intended to leave an imprint on the power metal scene. The epic and powerful music of “Gate of the Gods” keeps a solid heavy metal foundation while dishing out infectious melodies. Fans of Grönwall will delight in hearing his vocals in arguably the finest form of his career, wailing like a metal warrior, while Tee delivers an incredible production befitting of these power metal hymns.
3
Michelles — “The Empty Promises of Rock and Roll”
Michelles is a rock band from Chicago, but doesn’t really sound like a band from Chicago, though in many ways there really isn’t a Chicago sound — at least not now, if there ever was. It’s also a bit of a stretch to call Michelles a band, as it is the singular vision of Michael Daly, who writes and plays nearly every sound heard on every recording. The sole exception is the drums, which are handled by Ryan Farnham, who has stuck around to provide percussive and moral support through the band’s existence. The new record touches on the familiar subjects of love, loss and change, along with a healthy dash of regret.
4
Bodega — “Broken Equipment”
Bodega’s new album was inspired by a book club. In the early months of 2020, the Brooklyn art-punk incendiaries gathered with close friends to study the works of a wide range of philosophers. Passionate debates lasting long into the night became a regular occurrence, motivating the band to become as ideologically unified as the weighty tomes they were reading. “Broken Equipment” is the outfit’s attempt to interrogate the external factors that make them who they are, propelling existential quandaries with tonguein-cheek humor, highly personal lyrics and irresistible grooves.
5
Alex Cameron — “Oxy Music”
Singer-songwriter Alex
Cameron has always been a great storyteller, finding his way into the depths of the places where not many others are looking, and “Oxy Music” continues that trajectory. It’s filled with stories of people who fall outside the system and exist in the gray areas of life. In its design — its music, lyrics and tracklist — lies the journey a person can take, if the circumstances present themselves, down the road of heavy drug and alcohol abuse. Though it’s heavy and emotive, the LP somehow manages to be brighter and more buoyant than much of Cameron’s previous work.
6
Ghost — “Impera”
“Impera” finds Ghost transported hundreds of years forward from the 14th century Europe Black Plague era of its previous album, 2018’s best rock album Grammy nominee “Prequelle.” The result is the
most ambitious and lyrically incisive entry in the band’s canon. Over the course of a 12-song cycle, empires rise and fall, would-be messiahs ply their hype, prophecies are foretold as the skies fill with celestial bodies divine and man-made. All in all, “Impera” lays out the most current and topical subject matter to date from the Swedish theatrical rockers, set against a hypnotic and darkly colorful melodic backdrop.
Hank Williams — “I’m Gonna Sing: The Mother’s Best Gospel Radio Recordings”
Back in 1951, Hank Williams was reigning as the king of country music. As a popular star of the Grand Ole Opry, he was in the midst of an amazing stretch of hit songs. That year, he also had his own 15-minute radio show that was sponsored by Mother’s Best Flour. Broadcast from 7:15to 7:30a.m. on the powerhouse Nashville radio station WSM, the program captured Williams at the apex of his career. Because early-morning programs typically concluded with a hymn, it gave him the chance to share his life-long love for religious songs. “I’m Gonna Sing: The Mother’s Best Gospel Radio Recordings” contains rare performances of 40of those songs culled from these radio shows, many of which he never officially recorded.