The Moon Seven Times
Country of origin:
U.S.
Type of music generally:
Ethereal blues pop rock
Status:
Final album, Sunburnt (1997)
See also:
Moon Seven Times facebook pageThe Moon Seven Times Myspace page
All Music's The Moon Seven Times page
The Ectophiles' Guide entries for Area (a band Lynn Canfield and Henry Frayne were in before The Moon Seven Times) and Lanterna, another band of Henry Frayne's, and Shotgun Wedding, another project by Lynn Canfield and Brendan Gamble.
Group members are currently pursuing various different projects. Don Gerard now plays with The Greedy Loves. Lynn Canfield has a website devoted to her new projects. Henry Frayne continues to pursue his Lanterna projects.
Comparisons:
Area fuses with Curve or Darling Buds and goes grunge. (brianb@mooman.com)I'm not sure about the grunge part but the rest sounds about right to me! (Neile)
Covers/own material:
Own material
General comments:
The Moon Seven Times is one of those bands that the more you listen to them the more original and intriguing you realize their sound is. To me, the most distinctive part of their sound is the combination of Henry Frayne's harmonic guitar work with Lynn Canfield's ethereal but strong voice. Their first self-titled album is the most purely ethereal of their albums, though there is a strong bluesy touch to the music. 7=49 adds a stronger rock sound to the strengths of the first album. Sunburnt sounds a little bluesier still and has almost a countryish touch at times. There is something about this band's music (and their previous incarnation, Area's) that is powerfully evocative, and this quality has made The Moon Seven Times one of my favourite bands. (Neile)I'm not quite sure what I think of this band. Theoretically I should love them—layered guitars, beautiful haunting melodies, a mixture of ethereal, rock and folk, a female voice.... Yet somehow it doesn't quite work out for me, and I can't put my finger on it. With almost every single track I raise my ears at the beginning, thinking 'this is beautiful!'—and then the feeling fades before the song is over. I've a feeling it's Lynn Canfield's voice that bothers me, though I can't put my finger on why it does. And I really want to like them. In the cause of the year I got all three of their albums, and I like 7=49 and Sunburnt best, thought Sunburnt is a bit different from the other two—more 'songs' instead of soundscapes. I don't play them often, and when I do I hardly ever listen to the whole album. A shame really. (Marion)
Comments about live performance:
I have been wanting to see The Moon Seven Times for about 8 years, (from the days when they were Area). Lynn Canfield swirled around stage, a post-Natalie Merchant. Her usually whispery voice was stronger than on records, and she had an engaging, warm stage presence. Henry Frayne's glimmering, minimalist guitar created perfect environments for Canfield's reveries, while the bass and drums gave the songs a solid structure. They performed songs from all three of the albums, including some of my favorites—"13 Days" and "My Game". (ethereal_lad@livejournal.com)
Recommended first album:
Any—go for the one whose description sounds most intriguing to you.
Recordings:
- The Moon Seven Times (1993)
- 7=49 (1994)
- Sunburnt (1997)
The Moon Seven Times
Release info:
1993—Third Mind Records—TM 9106 2
Availability:
Can be found in U.S. stores that carry indie releases.
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Group members:
Lynn Canfield—vocals
Henry Frayne—guitars, bass
Don Gerard—bass
Brendan Gamble—drums, guitars, assorted percussion, assorted synths
Produced by:
The Moon Seven Times
Comments:
Like someone else said, it's Area done one better. Great stuff. (meth@smoe.org)I popped this in the CD player for a quick listen, and was still there 70 minutes later, listening. Any album that can open with something as wonderful as "Her House" has a lot going for it in the first place, and Henry Frayne's lush melodies and glittering, shimmering guitars paired with Lynn Canfield's voice seal it. (ahoran@ozemail.com.au)
I adore this release. (burka@jeffrey.net)
7=49
Release info:
1994—Roadrunner Records—RR 9018-2
Availability:
Good
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Group members:
Lynn Canfield—vocals
Henry Frayne—guitars, bass
Don Gerard—bass
Brendan Gamble—drums, guitars, assorted percussion, assorted synths
Produced by:
Brendan Gamble and The Moon Seven Times
Comments:
Though Henry Frayne's gorgeous guitar is frequently buried in Brendan Gamble's flashier guitar, Henry's playing is still the bond that holds this band together for me and makes it totally individual. That and Lynn Canfield's lovely voice and funky lyrics. This album rocks more than their first but this is recognizably them. (Neile)I'm amazed not to have seen this on anybody's year's best lists yet (at least that I recall). Not much to say about this album, other than that it's got a different feel than the first, eponymous album, but this new feel shows more progression away from the Area roots, despite the cover of Area's "I'll Gather Flowers." (burka@jeffrey.net)
It just gets wonderfuler and wonderfuler until its own wonderfulness surpasses all other wonderfulness. Wonderful. I do have a problem with the version of "Knock" on here—it seems out of place arrangement-wise, and sounded better on the live video. But heck, then there's "Guppy" and "Crybaby" and then there's the amazing "My Game" with Henry's I-Can-Do-Dave-Gilmour-Better-Than-Dave-Gilmour-Can guitar solo. Yum. Then there's "John", all jangly poppy bliss, and "The Pavement Shines", which is like a breath of the air of another place captured in a song. "On A Limb" is what Frente might have done had they not signed to a major label, and "Anyway", oh heck, by this stage I just want to pull the disc out of the CD player and hug it. Buy this album. (ahoran@ozemail.com.au)
I definitely like 7=49 better than The Moon Seven Times. It seems more lively to me and more varied in its sound. (dbucak@netaxs.com)
though other people have suggested a connection, neither album is particularly cocteau twinsish. to me. the eponymous album is perhaps softer, where 7=49 tends to "rock out" (relatively) more. it's definitely meatier and more pop-song-oriented, rather than the mood-song-orientation that the first record has. (woj@smoe.org)
Sunburnt
Release info:
1997—Roadrunner Records—RR 8911-2
Availability:
Good
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Group members:
Lynn Canfield—vocals
Henry Frayne—guitars, mellotron, hammond
Don Gerard—bass, bass fiddle
Brendan Gamble—drums, guitars, assorted percussion, assorted synths
Guest artists:
Jay Bennett—guitar
Jeff Helgesen—trumpet
Trina Shoemaker—backing vocals
Produced by:
Trina Shoemaker and The Moon Seven Times
Comments:
As with their other albums, over time I've grown to love this album more and more, and now it finally ranks as high as their other two albums for me. Though the producer mostly kept Henry's guitar work in the background, it's still there, centering the band and creating spaces for their songs. I still can't listen to the guest lead guitarist's '70s noodling all over two of the tracks here, but the rest of the album (and even those songs underneath that) I love. Now it surprises me how long this album took to rise in my estimation. It does sparkle to me like their previous two did—just not as immediately apparently as with them. "Some of Them Burn" is one of The Moon Seven Times' best songs ever, and there's other great work here. Don't dismiss this as I did at first because it's not another album like their ethereal eponymous debut or their rocky 7=49. Sunburnt is a wonderful album that is another side of this creative and talented band. Wonderful songs, great guitar, and catchy vocals. This is a great band. (Neile)I have to say that I'm absolutely in love with this album. It is perfect. Just...perfect. Sunburnt turned me around, threw me on the ground, and beat me up. I love the new jazziness, the freshness. I still can't get enough of this album. 7=49 never really did it for me the way the first, eponymous, album did (or for that matter, some of my favorite Area stuff, especially The Perfect Dream).
Neile's comments about the album being...different...are certainly true. The production values have changed drastically. But oh, so beautiful it is! Still plenty of unmistakably Lynn/Henry moments. (burka@jeffrey.net)Another amazing effort by this talented band. While some Moon Seven Times fans didn't find this album to be as good as their previous efforts, I found it to be absolutely great. Yes, there are some things I few things I would have liked to have seen done a bit differently, but I think that this album includes some of the finest songs The Moon Seven Times has done to date. For me, the high points were very high indeed, and the rest of the album was good enough that it didn't detract from the overall wonderfulness. It will certainly be on my ten best list for 1997. (mcurry@io.com)
This CD has really grown on me. When I first got it, I listened once and put it away, wrong mood I guess. But the next time around it really grabbed me, and I've been playing it a lot ever since. (carnivore@bigfoot.com)
Thanks to Michael Curry and to Brian Bloom for work on this entry.
