We caught up with Seven Lions to speak all issues “Past The Veil” and the way the melodic bass maestro stays grounded amongst all of the noise (trace: it is his Lord of the Rings-themed studying room).
As we speak’s most profitable musicians are like outdated associates. We get to know them by their lyrics, comply with their lives on social media and make reminiscences at their exhibits. However who’re they, actually? What occurs when an artist decides to interrupt their mould?
For melodic bass maestro Seven Lions, this reckoning got here with the creation of his debut album, Past The Veil. It’s a giant swing of a undertaking, marked by all-star vocal collaborations (GG Magree, Lights, Vancouver Sleep Clinic) and crisp, cathartic bass drops.
Like a comforting hug, there’s a sense of familiarity right here—an epic ecstasy that matches like a puzzle piece amongst Lions’ decade-deep discography. It coexists alongside clear, grounded manufacturing and a cohesive, instrumentation-driven story.
Past The Veil marks a maturation of the Seven Lions we all know and love. And based on him, it’s his most private work but.
“The album is Carpe Diem, primarily,” he instructed EDM.com in an interview in Los Angeles. “The lyric, ‘There’s tales left to inform til we’re past the veil,’ [on the album’s titular track] is the entire idea of, like, we don’t actually know what’s subsequent, so making an attempt to be current and embrace issues and be within the second as a lot as potential.”
A part of the album’s influence is in its stay counterpart, a large North American run that bookends a trilogy of excursions that commenced in 2016. Titled “The Journey III,” this last set up’s stage was designed to appear like a stone fortress, full with arches, staircases and an altar that hid Lions’ decks. The tour’s L.A. date, which we attended at Los Angeles State Historic Park, was the most important headlining present of his storied profession.
From unlocking his internal lion and experimenting past “crowd pleasers” to recommending we take heed to the album in solitude and sharing a few of his favourite bands, we caught up with Seven Lions backstage earlier than his set to select his mind about Past The Veil.
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EDM.com: So this tour represents the tip of the “Journey” trilogy, proper? How has your relationship modified with the idea because it kicked off seven years in the past?
Seven Lions: I believe three is only a good quantity to finish the idea on. I don’t assume I began out with this ending in thoughts. It is like beginning a novel, your first novel, after which simply understanding you’re going to finish it at three and making the story alongside the way in which.
EDM.com: Do you know it was going to take this lengthy?
Seven Lions: No. The pandemic completely screwed it up. We had a tour deliberate out in 2020 and that simply went out the window. However truthfully, I am glad that that occurred as a result of I really feel like I grew rather a lot as an individual and as an artist.
I really feel like that is essentially the most me factor I’ve ever accomplished. And I do not assume I’d’ve been in a position to do this with the hustle that was taking place up till 2020. The pandemic allowed me to take a minute and actually take into consideration my inspirations and what I needed to current and what I needed to say.
EDM.com: What’s it you needed to say? What did you uncover in that reflection?
Seven Lions: So many issues! For me, Past The Veil is Carpe Diem. The lyric, ‘There’s tales left to inform til we’re past veil,’ is the entire idea of, we do not actually know what’s subsequent, so actually making an attempt to be current and embrace issues and be within the second as a lot as potential. That is the theme of the album and the primary message, massive time.
And in addition the artwork, just like the New Moon Fort emblem, all these issues are very thought out and significant. I do not assume I’d’ve had the time to do this with out two years to only sit in my very own area and get actually connected to artwork that I like and pull that in and put one thing out.
EDM.com: Yeah, I learn in considered one of your earlier interviews that you simply felt like over the previous couple of years, you had been producing quite a lot of crowd pleasers, and that this album was a chance to be extra experimental.
Seven Lions: For certain. And I will in all probability transfer again into extra crowd pleasers now simply because the album’s accomplished. I beloved it. However I additionally see the place doing issues individuals count on is good, too, so it is a combine. I do know what individuals need to hear, what they count on of me, and it’s enjoyable making stuff that is proper on the nostril. Growth, that is what you need? Bam.
However I wanted one thing to feed my soul and say, ‘That is what I need to present.’ I really feel like that ties into the thought of dwelling presently, proper? Taking advantage of the second.
EDM.com: Is that mindset of dwelling presently one thing the pandemic sparked, or one thing you’ve got all the time strived for?
Seven Lions: I believe it is one thing I’ve all the time tried however with various success. It is a kind of issues that when you keep in mind it, it is like, ‘Oh, duh, in fact be within the second. This is not eternally. Simply be grateful you get to be right here.’ And it is really easy to neglect.
I can already inform being on tour simply right this moment; you simply need to expertise the whole lot, however that is such a giant present and there have been so many little particulars, little issues and hurdles. It is exhausting to not get caught up in all that and keep in mind how epic of an expertise that is. That is my largest L.A. present. It is truly my largest ever solo headline present. I am certain I will replicate after this and be capable to take all of it in. However it’s positively robust.
EDM.com: What grounds you?
Seven Lions: Simply being at dwelling. After we moved into the place we stay now, there was a greenhouse that we gutted and became a studying room. I decked it out with a bunch of Lord of the Rings stuff and it is on a hill within the timber. It is my area to sit back and replicate, my grounding blissful place. I additionally go on this stroll on daily basis and that, too—so yeah, simply being dwelling alone is my blissful area.
I believe I’ve gotten to the purpose the place I am actually blissful and cozy with liking solitude. I do not assume it all the time was that means. And so after I speak to people who find themselves battling something, I recommend getting snug with simply being with your self. That is my largest recommendation.
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EDM.com: How do you assume we will hear that within the music you are making now?
Seven Lions: I do not actually really feel just like the album I made is supposed to be skilled with different individuals round. It is humorous as a result of we’re in the course of considered one of my largest exhibits with a bunch of individuals.
However music for me is a really private factor and the albums I like and take heed to will not be issues I share with different individuals. It’s totally a lot a private journey. So I believe the way in which I’d need individuals to expertise the album is in solitude.
EDM.com: So in the event you had been to think about what surprising Seven Lions would sound like musically, simply what you create whenever you’re being pure, what’s that like?
Seven Lions: It is much more influenced by metallic and there are quite a lot of dynamics. It is not pop vocals and never a pop construction. I believe the thought of a musical journey the place there’s actually heavy stuff in addition to actually stunning, fairly moments, that is what I am actually into.
I believe it is exhausting to digest that many dynamics in the event you’re simply casually listening to music or it is only a pop factor or perhaps a massive present, truthfully. And I believe the album has actually smooth moments and heavier moments. It is meant to be a very dynamic expertise similar to life. It is not all one factor. It is a journey.
EDM.com: Very dimensional.
Seven Lions: Yeah, precisely. And I do know that sounds tacky, tying it into the journey, nevertheless it actually is. It is the concept that you do not need to be all one observe, you already know?
I believe that is what has actually bothered me in regards to the music scene is how individuals tie themselves to 1 sound and the way it can all sound so related. Like, ‘I solely like dubstep and I am a hundred percent heavy on a regular basis.’ Or, ‘I solely like chill home music and I am low effort on a regular basis.’ Life is far more difficult than that.
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EDM.com: What albums have taken you on a journey?
Seven Lions: All of the outdated Opeth albums. Blackwater Park remains to be my favourite. They are a French black metallic shoegaze band, which is a very attention-grabbing mixture. It is best to positively examine them out after which take heed to the album once more as a result of there’s quite a lot of inspiration from them.
There’s additionally Tiger Military, a rockabilly band, or psychobilly, quite. I do not assume anyone from the EDM world will get these bands however in the event you actually need to exit on a limb, examine these bands out for certain.
EDM.com: Do you communicate French?
Seven Lions: No, no. And I like Sigur Rós, too, and so they do not communicate English. I am extra about melody than lyrics, I suppose, so it would not have to be English.
EDM.com: That is tremendous attention-grabbing as a result of so a lot of your tracks are lyric-driven.
Seven Lions: For certain. With the album, I’d speak to the artists and lay out the influences, the colour palette or the temper of every tune. After which they’d write the lyrics and we’d trip.
EDM.com: What phrases had been you going again to?
Seven Lions: Moonlight. Misty. Bluegreen.
EDM.com: Washington. House.
Seven Lions: Washington. Bushes. Precisely.
EDM.com: Do you’re feeling like doing an album and entering into the mindset of sharing all this was weak and out of the field for you?
Seven Lions: I might say that is essentially the most weak I’ve ever been with music, and the present as properly. It looks like I’ve had my hand in the whole lot much more than with earlier exhibits and it feels actually good. And the album, too. It is simply very private, which is completely different. I really feel tied to it greater than quite a lot of issues previously.
And one of many issues can also be not tying my sense of self-worth or success to the success of the album, although I am very tied to it personally. It is simply making an attempt to be happy with what I’ve made with out caring about streaming numbers and issues like that.
I’ve actually remoted myself from quite a lot of these issues. I am not on social media, actually. I like Instagram as a result of I comply with quite a lot of tattoo artists. However I am not on Twitter. I’ve by no means downloaded TikTok. I am very a lot in somewhat bubble that I’ve created for myself that I actually like.
Editor’s Be aware: The interview above was evenly edited and condensed for readability.
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