Most EPs are just a handful of songs that were not quite enough for an album. Seven Nation Army had a different idea. Power and Money, released May 21, 2026, takes a single song and presents it three times, each version built from entirely different production choices and sonic philosophy. The concept sounds gimmicky on paper. In practice it is one of the more disciplined and genuinely interesting releases to come through recently.
The project was founded in Krakow, Poland in 2006 by Jarek Balsamski, who handles guitars, vocals, synthesizers, programming, and songwriting. Vocalist Olga Ostrowska joined in 2009 and has been an essential anchor of the band’s sound ever since. Nearly two decades in, the project has moved well beyond its classic alternative rock and post-grunge origins into a fusion of synth-rock, electro-rock, industrial influences, and modern electronic production. Power and Money is the clearest demonstration yet of how much creative range they have developed across that time.
The Concept
The song itself is built around authority, ambition, and the invisible pressures that shape everyday behavior. Heavy themes, handled without heaviness. What makes the EP work is not just the subject matter but the decision to run the same narrative through three completely different production frameworks and let each version illuminate something the others do not. It is an invitation to listen comparatively rather than sequentially, which is not something most releases ask of you.
Power and Money (Electro Time)
The opening version pushes furthest into futuristic electro-rock territory. A hypnotic rhythm runs underneath everything while synth pads build a dystopian atmosphere that feels cold, urgent, and restless. Ostrowska’s vocals are mesmerizing throughout, and the industrial groove combined with keyboard textures that call back to 1980s gothic rock gives the track an immediate, immersive quality. It is the most forward-looking of the three and sets the thematic stakes for everything that follows.
Power and Money (80s Synths)
The second version changes everything. Retro-inspired synthesizer textures take over, balancing dark melodic atmosphere against shimmering layers that evoke isolation and unease without tipping into nostalgia or imitation. Hearing the same emotional core transformed by a completely different production approach is exactly the kind of thing this format is designed to reveal, and it works. The 80s influence here is handled with real precision. This is not pastiche. It is a genuine recontextualization of the song through a different lens.
Power and Money (Raw Guitars)
The third version strips everything back. Where the first two lean heavily on electronic textures and synthesized atmosphere, this one brings Balsamski’s guitar work to the front and lets the more organic, visceral quality of the band do the work. The rawness makes the lyrical themes feel more immediate and physical. A critique of power and wealth hits differently when it is delivered through a guitar rather than a synth pad, and the contrast with the two versions that came before it makes that difference land harder than it would have in isolation. It is a strong closing statement on a tightly conceived EP.
The Verdict
Power and Money is a confident and disciplined piece of work from a project that has been quietly refining its vision for nearly two decades. By committing fully to a single-song, three-interpretation structure, Seven Nation Army sidestep the usual EP problem of filler and instead deliver something that rewards attentive listening. Each version earns its place, and together they make a genuine case for Balsamski and Ostrowska as one of the more interesting alternative rock acts operating in Europe right now.
Check them out at sevennationarmy.eu.
Power and Money EP is out now. Released May 21, 2026.
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