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 slowly 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’t miss 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 Feb. 18:
Show of the week 1 Pinegrove — Union Transfer — Friday
Montclair, N.J., outfit Pinegrove return to town in support of their latest LP, “11:11.” The album sees the band build on their poetic blend of indie rock, folk and alt-country, along with frontman Evan Stephens Hall’s earnest, open-hearted vocals and his penchant for writing emotionally direct, literate, introspective lyrics. Here, political and socially conscious themes permeate and, as he evolves as an artist, his resolve has only grown stronger and more purposeful. The record weaves those critiques through an accessible and sensitive work, which manages to be pointed without ever being didactic.
New releases 2 White Lies — “As I Try Not To Fall Apart”
Arguably one of the biggest guitar bands in the UK, White Lies return with their latest album, “As I Try Not To Fall Apart.” Recorded over two studio sessions, the album is their most expansive record to date, taking in explosive rock, electro-pop bangers, proginspired invention, funktinged grooves and some of their most indelible hooks yet. It was recorded at Sleeper Sounds and Assault & Battery studios in West London, and saw long-term collaborator Ed Buller, who has worked on many of their albums including their stunning debut, “To Lose My Life…,” return to produce
SOUNDCHECK
• Pinegrove: “Respirate”
• White Lies: “I Don’t Want To Go to Mars”
• Shout Out Louds: “Sky and I (Himlen)”
• Catcher: “Comparing Saviors and Friends”
• David Byrne and Yo La Tengo: “Who Has Seen the Wind?”
• Steve Poltz: “Conveyer Belt”
• Spirits of Fire: “A Second Chance” several tracks along with Claudius Mittendorfer, who has worked with Weezer and Panic! at the Disco, producing and mixing the entire record.
3 Shout Out Louds — “House”
Swedish indie pop act Shout Out Louds deliver “House,” a collection of songs attuned to the strange poetry of everyday life, the kind of small and subtle moments that together form the very texture of our existence. Frontman Adam Olenius, keyboardist/vocalist Bebban Stenbord, guitarist Carl von Arbin and bassist Ted Malmros ponder such matters as mental unrest, growing older and the fragility of love with an unblinking realism that’s endlessly brightened by their heavenly melodies and indelibly warm sound.
4 Catcher — “The Fat of a Broken Heart”
Catcher is a Brooklyn-based post-punk band with a reputation for visceral and powerful live performances. Drawing comparisons to Iceage and Protomartyr, the band delivers music with a driving and inundating low end, provided by childhood friends Cameron McRae and Wilson Chestney, on bass and drums, respectively. Their most recent single, “Comparing Saviors and Friends,” ramps up with sludgy bass and frenetic guitar chords, charging forward like an angry bull out the gate, accompanied by vocalist Austin Eichler’s deep-seated drawl. Like much of the music on “The Fat of a Broken Heart,” it’s well worth digging into.
5 Various Artists — “Ocean Child: The Songs of Yoko Ono”
Imagined and curated by Benjamin Gibbard, the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of Death Cab for Cutie, “Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono” is comprised of 14new versions of tracks by the multimedia artist, singer, songwriter and activist Yoko Ono performed by a diverse range of rising artists and legendary stars including a collaboration between David Byrne and Yo La Tengo, the Flaming Lips, Sharon Van Etten, Death Cab for Cutie and many more.
6 Steve Poltz — “Stardust & Satellites”
Steve Poltz has spent more than three decades as a singer/songwriter/performer of the first order with his inspired brand of rocking, countrified folk Americana. Having first made his bones as frontman for underground legends the Rugburns, the Halifax, Nova Scotia-born tunesmith has established a critically lauded solo catalog while also collaborating with such diverse artists as Jewel and bluegrass phenom Billy Strings. An exuberant, thoughtful batch of songs that celebrate life in all of its stages, his new album “Stardust & Satellites” came to fruition as a result of one of those serendipitous situations created by the pandemic when Poltz, who usually spends some 300 nights on the road, found the time to put together the new songs.
7 Spirits of Fire — “Embrace the Unknown”
Spirits of Fire were built to deliver classic in-your-face heavy metal, and they have accomplished that goal on every level on “Embrace the Unknown,” which sees renowned Italian metal vocalist Fabio Lione taking over frontman duties for the band. The final result sees a killer musical output that continues in the vein of classic Judas Priest meets Savatage sound that the band has pursued since its formation.