SEVEN IN SEVEN
Welcome to Seven in Seven, where each week we would typically take a look at concerts coming to the region. With most shows on hold due to the pandemic, here’s a look at seven of the best albums being released Sept. 3:
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Liz Cooper — “Hot Sass”
Acclaimed singer, songwriter and musician Liz Cooper’s new record follows her 2018 full-length debut album, “Window Flowers,” which was released to widespread raves across the board. Originally from Baltimore and now based in Brooklyn, she has continued to tour consistently since her debut, performing alongside artists such as Dr. Dog, Shakey Graves, Bermuda Triangle, Lord Huron and Phosphorescent as well slots on various festivals. Across the 12new songs, Cooper comes into her own — both musically and as a person — embracing a newfound sense of honesty, maturity and creativity.
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P.O.D. — “Satellite 20th Anniversary”
Two decades ago, P.O.D. released its fourth studio album, “Satellite,” a triple-platinum smash that remains the hard rock
band’s best-selling album. To celebrate the record’s 20th anniversary, the San Diego-based group is releasing a newly remastered version of the record, which has been expanded with rare and unreleased music. Available as a double-CD and digitally this week — with double-vinyl Oct. 8, the 28-song collection introduces a newly remastered version of the original album, plus a selection of rarities, remixes and four previously unreleased demos, including “Alive (Semi-Acoustic Version).”
Suuns — “The Witness”
“The Witness” marks a shrewdly offbeat left turn for Montreal rock outfit Suuns, showing them in their most comfortable, candid state. Self-recorded
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and self-produced over the majority of 2020, a year of strife, solitude and reflection, the LP finds the band holding a magnifying glass over their own default state of playing and performing. It’s a swift departure from the previous album, “Felt,” and sees the band harvesting haphazard ideas in their embryonic, demoed versions, as if letting loose a glorious fireworks display into the ether.
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The Hawkins — “The Aftermath”
Swedish high-flying garage act The Hawkins’ rock ‘n’ roll wittiness is presented in slightly darkened nuances on their new mini-album — an EP to the rest of us — “The Aftermath.” The band’s highly dynamic and quirky take on the genre is performed with an underlying sense of held-back anger, angst and apprehension. Experimental and bolder than before, the six shift from explosive outbursts of energy to calmer, acoustic parts with manic episodes in between.
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Fair Visions — “Modern Kids” Brooklyn-based post-punk outfit Fair Visions deliver six varied tracks on “Modern Kids,” which form the second half of a statement begun with their debut, “A Way Out,” released amidst the gloom and disintegration
of 2020. The EP embraces darkness with a Pandoralike curiosity, introducing a wide chromatic rainbow of hooks and textures, from piano and stomp and fuzz to spectral background vocals and acid house breakdowns. At once tight and sprawling, Fair Visions have never sounded more complex in their channeling of the heady dance lineage of New York new wave.
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When it comes to modern heavy metal, there are few
Portrait — “At One With None”
bands operating at the same level as Portrait. For a decade and a half, the Swedish unit have been forging their own path, and in the process infusing life into a longstanding, well-established genre and taking it in new directions. There latest LP, “At One With None,” sees the band holding themselves to an undeniably high standard which shines through at every turn, as they push themselves and refuse to let go until a song is perfect. Lyrically the record focuses on spirituality, current times and questioning what truth in existence is; heavy stuff backed by even heavier riffs. 7
Jenna Kyle — “Ojos” Jenna Kyle’s “Ojos” EP represents a new era for the Los Angeles-based singer/ songwriter, producer and live electronic artist, who has actively been leaving her mark as one of the two percent of female music producers in the industry. The music is heavily influenced by her travels over the past several years and her long-time partnership and collaboration with Brazilian/ Argentine drummer Bruno Esrubilsky (Mitski, Hedwig and The Angry Inch), which contributed to a globally minded sound and an influx of Spanish and Portuguese lyrics.