''Seven Circles'' is the seventh studio album by Canadian band

The Tea Party The Tea Party is a Canadian rock band with industrial rock, blues, progressive rock, and Middle Eastern music influences, dubbed " Moroccan roll" by the media. Active throughout the 1990s and up until 2005, the band re-formed in 2011. The Tea ...

, released in 2004. It was the band's last album prior to their split in 2005. The album continues the style of the band's two previous offerings (''

The Interzone Mantras ''The Interzone Mantras'' is the sixth album by Canadian rock group The Tea Party, released in 2001. Named after William S. Burroughs' book of short stories '' Interzone'' and the band's interest in eastern mysticism and esoteric philosophies,D ...

'' in 2001 and ''

Triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divide ...

'' in 1999) by combining world music influences with rock instrumentation and

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

studio techniques. The album is also one of the band's most positive sounding records, forsaking the

dystopian A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

imagery and moody lyrics of past albums, and including several

ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

that border on love-song territory. This change in focus has led to both praise and criticism from fans. The album is dedicated to the memory of Steve Hoffman, the late manager of The Tea Party, who died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

in October 2003. Track 4, "

Oceans The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...

" was written in his honour, with a promotional single released in May 2005 The Tea Party hoped to bring more attention to the Steven Hoffman Fund.Oceans Vide
Steve Hoffman.org : for Lung Cancer Research
Accessed 4 May 2007 The album is also notable for containing the song "Empty Glass", which continues the saga of

Major Tom Major Tom is a persona of David Bowie's, referenced in songs "Space Oddity", " Ashes to Ashes", "Hallo Spaceboy", "Blackstar" and " Angel With A Shotgun" Bowie's own interpretation of the character evolved throughout his career. "Space Oddity ...

from the work of

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Peter Schilling Peter Schilling (born Pierre Michael Schilling; 28 January 1956) is a German synthpop musician whose songs often feature science-fiction themes like aliens, astronauts and catastrophes. He is best-known for his 1983 hit single "Major Tom (Comi ...

, and others. ''Seven Circles'' marks the first time that

Jeff Martin Jeff Martin may refer to: * Jeff Martin (American musician) (born 1957), lead vocalist for the bands Surgical Steel and Racer X; drummer for Badlands *Jeff Martin (Canadian musician) (born 1969), guitarist, singer, and songwriter for the Tea Party ...

has duetted with another artist; "Wishing you would Stay" features fellow Canadian vocalist

Holly McNarland Holly McNarland (born 23 October 1975) is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter, who was most prominent in the 1990s.Mike Roberts, "Riding the buzz: Wonder gal McNarland not as dark as the songs". '' The Province'', 18 July 1995. Career Ori ...

, as a counterpoint to Martin's baritone. The album debuted at number 5 on the Canadian Album Chart, selling 7,600 copies in its first week. On November 4, 2004, the album was certified gold in Canada. ''Seven Circles'' also received a nomination for Rock Album of the Year at the 2005

Juno Awards The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall o ...

Track listing

All songs written by The Tea Party, except tracks 6, 7, and 8 written by The Tea Party and Bob Rock.

Canadian tour limited edition bonus disc

# "Overload" – 4:33 # "Writing's on the Wall" – 3:02 # "Oceans" – 5:07

Singles

* " Writing's on the Wall" * " Stargazer" * "

Personnel

Production

*Produced by Gavin Brown and

(Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11),

Bob Rock Robert Jens Rock (born April 19, 1954) is a Canadian record producer, sound engineer and musician, best known for producing rock bands and music artists such as Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, The Tragically Hip, the Cult, ...

(Tracks 6, 7, 8) *Recorded at Orange Studios (

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

) and Plantation Studios (Haiku Hill, Maui) *Engineered by Eric Ratz and Eric Helmkamp *Mixed by Randy Staub *Mixed at The Warehouse Studio,

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

*Special thanks: David Giammarco

Additional musicians

*Track 10 **

(

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

)

Design

*Art direction:

Stuart Chatwood Stuart Chatwood, (born 22 October 1969 in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England) is a Canadian musician, best known as the bass guitar and keyboard player for the rock band The Tea Party. The Tea Party are known for fusing together musical styles of bo ...

and Antoine Moonen *Layout and design by Antoine Moonen

Charts

References

{{Authority control The Tea Party albums 2004 albums Albums produced by Bob Rock Albums recorded at Metalworks Studios