Blending mainstream pop with trance and dubstep, California producer Jeff Montalvo rapidly built a devoted audience as Seven Lions, issuing his first EP, Days to Come, in 2012. His third EP, Worlds Apart, marked his Billboard 200 entry in 2014. Subsequent releases such as 2015’s The Throes of Winter and 2017’s Creation, the latter topping the dance chart, signaled a sharper focus on song structures and led to the 2019 single “Need Your Love,” a Gryffin collaboration featuring singer/songwriter Noah Kahan that peaked just outside the dance/electronic Top Ten. Ten years into his discography, Montalvo unveiled his debut full-length album, Beyond the Veil, in 2022.
Originally a drummer, Montalvo shifted to production in 2007 and soon prevailed in a remix contest staged by trance act Above & Beyond for their track “You Got to Go.” Momentum followed: at age 25, Days to Come appeared on Vibe’s Top Electronic Albums of 2012, and BBC Radio 1 began airing his material regularly. Viper Recordings put out the Polarize EP in April 2013. After signing with Casablanca, the Worlds Apart EP reached number two on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart and crossed into the Billboard 200. The Throes of Winter reentered both tallies in 2015 while also claiming the top spot on Heatseekers Albums. Creation became his first dance/electronic number-one EP in 2017.
In 2018 Montalvo founded the Ophelia imprint and commemorated the launch with “Calling You Home.” Additional Ophelia output arrived promptly, among them the Ocean EP alongside Jason Ross and the Start Again EP, which housed the Fiora-assisted single “Dreamin’.” That same year he teamed with SLANDER and Dabin for “First Time” and released the guest-laden Where I Won’t Be Found EP, spotlighting Skyler Stonestreet and Unlike Pluto. Further 2019 pairings with Wooli, Trivecta, and Crystal Skies accompanied the dance/electronic number-12 hit “Need Your Love” with Gryffin and Noah Kahan. Find Another Way arrived in 2020, joined by “Don’t Wanna Fall” with Last Heroes and Haliene plus “Only Now” with Tyler Graves, the latter reaching the dance/electronic songs Top 40. The 1999 remix EP surfaced in 2021. October 2022 brought Beyond the Veil, Montalvo’s first official album, featuring contributions from So Below, Lights, and Vancouver Sleep Clinic.