About the band
7 is our seventh full-length record. At its release, we will have been a band for
over 13
years. We have
now written and released a total of 77 songs together.
Last year, we released an album of b-sides and rarities. It felt like a good step for us. It
helped us clean the
creative closet, put the past to bed, and start anew.
Throughout the process of recording 7, our goal was rebirth and rejuvenation. We wanted
to rethink old
methods and shed some self-imposed limitations. In the past, we often limited our writing to
parts that we could
perform live. On 7, we decided to follow whatever came naturally. As a result, there
are some songs with
no guitar, and some without keyboard. There are songs with layers and production that we could
never recreate live,
and that is exciting to us. Basically, we let our creative moods, instead of instrumentation,
dictate the album’s
feel.
In the past, the economics of recording have dictated that we write for a year, go to the
studio, and record the
entire record as quickly as possible. We have always hated this because by the time the
recording happens, a certain
excitement about older songs has often been lost. This time, we built a "home" studio, and began
all of the songs
there. Whenever we had a group of 3-4 songs that we were excited about, we would go to a
“proper” recording studio
and finish recording them there. This way, the amount of time between the original idea and the
finished song was
pretty short (of the album’s 11 songs, 8 were finished at Carriage House in Stamford, CT and 2
at Palmetto Studio
in Los Angeles).
7 didn’t have a producer in the traditional sense. We much preferred this, as
it felt like the
ideas drove the creativity, not any one person’s process. James Barone, who became our live
drummer in 2016, played on the entire record. His tastes and the trust we have in him really
helped us keep rhythm at the center of a lot of these songs. We also worked with Sonic Boom
(Peter Kember). Peter became a great force on this record, in the shedding of conventions and in
helping to keep the songs alive, fresh and protected from the destructive forces of recording
studio over-production/over-perfection.
The societal insanity of 2016-17 was also deeply influential, as it must be for most artists
these days. Looking back, there is
quite a bit of chaos happening in these songs, and a pervasive dark field that we had little
control over. The discussions
surrounding women’s issues were a constant source of inspiration and questioning. The energy,
lyrics and moods of much of this
record grew from ruminations on the roles, pressures and conditions that our society places on
women, past and present.
The twisted double edge of glamour, with its perils and perfect moments, was an endless source
(see “L’Inconnue,” “Drunk in LA,”
“Woo,” “Girl Of The Year,” “Last Ride”).
In a more general sense, we are interested by the human mind's (and nature’s) tendency to create
forces equal and opposite to
those present. Thematically, this record often deals with the beauty that arises in dealing with
darkness; the empathy and love
that grows from collective trauma; the place one reaches when they accept rather than deny (see
“Dark Spring,” “Pay No Mind,”
“Lemon Glow,” “Dive,” “Black Car,” “Lose Your Smile”).
The title, 7, itself is simply a number that represents our seventh record. We hoped
its simplicity would encourage people to look
inside. No title using words that we could find felt like an appropriate summation of the album.
The number 7 does represent some interesting connections in numerology. 1 and 7 have
always shared a common look, so 7 feels like
the perfect step in the sequence to act as a restart or “semi-first.” Most early religions also
had a fascination with 7 as being
the highest level of spirituality, as in "Seventh Heaven.” At our best creative moments, we felt
we were channeling some kind of
heavy truth, and we sincerely hope the listeners will feel that.
Much Love,
Beach House
more