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Favorite ThisSeven Lions: She was ft Birds of Paradise

Published: October 12, 2012
By: Anand Harsh



The wait is finally over. Fans of Seven Lions and Birds of Paradise (Bird of Prey + Gibson) have been waiting with bated breath for the exalted release of their first collaboration. Over the past year, Jeff Montalvo, has been releasing jaw-dropping remixes one after another, first taking on trance artists like Above & Beyond and Tritonal, and now, on Tuesday, Oct 16th, Skrillex's OWSLA label will be releasing an EP of his original tunes, Days to Come. Blending soaring melodies with explosive drops, Montalvo has blazed a trail with his Seven Lions brand.
 
The story behind this collaboration is intertwined with Montalvo's own ascension, which begins when he was living with Torin Goodnight, a.k.a. Bird of Prey in southern California. Montalvo was inspired by the deep bass music Goodnight and his Birds of Paradise collaborator Tyler Gibson were producing to take the powerful half-time breaks aesthetic back to his first love: trance. The rest, as they say, is history, as Seven Lions won contest after contest and was tapped to remix huge artists and really became one of the premier producers seamlessly blending trance and dubstep.
 
Which brings us to "She Was." After a couple years, the seeds were sewn for the three Santa Barbara-based producers to reunite.
 
"Jeff had already started this track, and then asked us to jump on," Goodnight explains. "We worked on the melodies in the breakdowns and some of the sound design--basically just adding our own flavor."
 
Unlike many Seven Lions tracks, the tempo of the drops has been pushed up to glitch-hop territory, a reflection of the evolved Birds of Paradise take on their earlier brand of psychedelic bass music. Evident throughout is Montalvo's penchant for big room sound, always making the most deeply personal and intimate songs feel like they're roaring through a packed stadium.
 
The OWSLA release of Days to Come, this Tuesday from Seven Lions will undoubtedly rocket Jeff Montalvo into another echelon, proving his originals pack as much punch as his remixes. With a new Birds of Paradise album expected around the New Year, we can only hope more collaborations are around the corner. In the EDM jungle, the Lions and the Birds flock together.

Tags: DubstepBreaksDowntempoDrum and BassPsytrance