Seventh Wonder release VII on 29 January through Frontiers, and it is the first record with Mattias Olofsson singing. Tommy Karevik, who had the job since 2006, is gone. "Memories" is out as the first song.
Bassist Andreas Blomqvist says that song was written at the very end of the sessions, once the new line up existed, and that is why it is the one they led with. A band replacing a singer of that standing has to show the new one doing the hardest thing the band does, not the easiest, and "Memories" was built after they knew what Olofsson could do.
Blomqvist is also straightforward about how hard the search was and about having to work out who the band were after the pause that followed The Testament in 2022. Twenty six years in, with Mercy Falls and The Great Escape behind them, that is a real question rather than a modest one.
Nine tracks, and the titles suggest they have not abandoned the long instrumental detours. The band formed in 2000 and have never released anything in a hurry.