Stephanie Gilbert’s “Seven Boats” heralds renewal in glorious glam rock fashion

Every seven years, if popular rumour is to be believed, the human body finishes regenerating all its cells, leaving us with a brand new replacement. No doubt this notion is somewhat scientifically flawed, but the appeal of getting to hit refresh every seven years is undeniable. Certainly this is the case for Stephanie Gilbert, whose debut single “Seven Boats” explores that concept of rebirth through a haze of fuzzy guitars and glam rock theatrics.

“I wanted it to feel like a theatre,” she explains. “I wanted it to feel like something is changing in you. That’s what I do with all my songs. I want something to happen inside of me that is then happening in the song. So a lot of it is, I guess, rock and roll theatre.”

Gilbert is unquestionably influenced by the flamboyant, performative elements of glam rock, she describes herself as the “biggest Marc Bolan fan in the world”. But there’s also the time she spent as an actor: “I studied drama in London and it was my whole life. I went to shows all the time, I loved it. When I moved back to Sweden, I didn’t find that same theatre life that I had in London. I was cooped up on my own, I just started writing more. I was singing and improvising, using theatre in music.”

After playing with a range of bands around Stockholm, spending time with grimier underground outfits like Sticky Baby and The Zaps, Gilbert has created her own solo music that strikes the balance between that theatrical, performative essence of her work, and hitting at the heart of something deeper and truer. She uses her own name, not a stage name, but muses that, “in doing so, I can actually truly step into something larger than being the normal Stephanie Gilbert.”

“It’s not a creative persona, but I would say that when I’m writing the music, I see these worlds that are a lot. They’re very beautiful and delicate and they’re right in front of our eyes all the time. I’m never truer than when I’m an artist.” There’s that feeling of distillation in “Seven Boats”, which serves as an apt introduction to Gilbert’s world.

Lyrically, she traverses weird and wonderful ideas. There’s the “cosmic trooper”, who she describes as a recurring creature in her dreams, one who lives through her. Then there's the “seven boats” themselves, that way of transporting oneself into a body that is different but the same, inviting an awakening that is not just physical but all-encompassing.

Musically, there’s a range of influences that coalesce to make a tightly choreographed, poised piece of rock. Gilbert’s voice ranges powerfully across her melodies, alternating between offering murmured, Françoise Hardy-style intonations, and punching them through to the listener with an authoritative growl. The guitar lines command attention in much the same way. Fizzing wildly across riffs that begin with thudding intensity before erupting across the chorus, and a guitar solo that meanders without losing its urgency.

The song gives a feeling of being not just a message but a command – to the listener, yes, but also to Gilbert’s former self. “I used to get a note from a director when I was an actor where he’d say ‘Stephanie, be more human!’ I have this thing that can take over me. But in music, that thing is actually what it’s about.”

In reality, there’s nothing more human than the desire for change. The simultaneous fear of letting something go whilst longing to do so. Gilbert has shed her old skin and emerged with something else bigger and braver than before. It is this heightened state that “Seven Boats” taps into.