Photo ⓒ Nilina Mason-Campbell

As my friend Minh rather accurately stated: the M83 show on Thanksgiving night was more like M8zzzz. Once you’ve seen Of Montreal, there’s no looking back. The bar has officially been raised and unfortunately M83’s brand of party - more slumber than dance - just wasn’t engaging. That doesn’t mean the evening was a total waste though. Far from it as I luckily caught openers School of Seven Bells.

Have I been waiting for an act to prove the Semisonic lyric “every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end” true? Well, regardless, School of Seven Bells has. The trio claimed my curiosity beforehand not on the basis of its tracks, but because its existence was made possible by guitarist Benjamin Curtis’ departure from The Secret Machines and stunning twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza’s exit from On! Air! Library!. The results are marvelous I might add. I hadn’t listened to School of Seven Bells before the show, but was completely swallowed up by its lush rhythmic sound and its ability to transport you into a sort of dreamland where everything is within grasp and infinitely possible. Their single “Connjur” was easily the standout of the night when performed live. Listen to and download Connjur When School of Seven Bells’ 45 minute set was up it was bittersweet to let them go as their departure from the stage marked the return to a less ethereal reality, but with the aid of iTunes I’ve been able to journey back.

Benjamin Curtis left his band Secret Machines in 2007 to form School of Seven Bells with the twin sisters Alejandra and Claudia Deheza, formerly of On! Air! Library! Named after a legendary pickpocket training academy, the band first released a single, My Cabal, in May 2007 on the UK label Sonic Cathedral. They have an album out on Ghostly International called ‘Alpinism.’

I’m laying all of this out so you have plenty of background should you decide to leave the last of the Thanksgiving dinner leftovers behind and head out to see them at Doug Fir this Thursday. Headliners, M83, are awesome too..

School of Seven Bells - Connjur