7 (stylized as Big Wreck 7) is the seventh studio album by Canadian rock band Big Wreck, released on March 24, 2023. It consists of three five-song EPs that the band released over the course of 16 months entitled 7.1 (on November 19, 2021), 7.2 (on June 17, 2022), and 7.3 (on March 24, 2023), respectively. At a length of over 70 minutes, this is the group's longest album to date. This would also be first Big Wreck album to be recorded without co-founding member and rhythm guitarist Brian Doherty due to his passing in June 2019, as well as the first since 2014's Ghosts to be recorded without long-time drummer Chuck Keeping as he left the group in summer 2021 to focus on family life. Canadian guitarist Chris Caddell of The Wreckage joined as their new rhythm guitarist, and former Thornley drummer and renowned Canadian session drummer Sekou Lumumba joined the band as their new drummer. Both are featured on the recordings. Background, recording, and promotion Following the successful tour of their previous album ...But for the Sun, the band went relatively dark on social media while the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. It was revealed in early 2021 that during this time, the band had recorded 15 new songs that would become the follow-up album. Lead singer and guitarist Ian Thornley shared in an interview that the band had decided to release the new material in increments of five songs spread across three EPs, due to his belief in how music has been consumed differently in recent years and figured that fans would accept the dense amount of new music less overwhelmingly in this format, as opposed to the conventional full-length album format. The three EPs would eventually be put together in a composite release titled 7. Consequently, each EP would be numerically ordered in this format – 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3, respectively. Throughout 2021, Thornley posted several clips on his Instagram page featuring audio and footage from the recording studio, including isolated guitar and vocal takes and rough mixes of certain songs. In the summer of 2021, the band surprise released two one-off singles with the help of Chad Kroeger of Nickelback entitled "Middle Of Nowhere" and "Ought To Be". Although "Middle Of Nowhere" peaked at #4 on Canada's Active Rock charts – their highest-ranking single since 2011's "Albatross", both songs received mixed reviews and reactions as they were