Adrian Nation CD Review
Adrian Nation
EP (from the forthcoming album Fall Or Fly)
www.myspace.com/adriannationmusic & www.adriannation.com
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Colchester based tunesmith offers a tantalising glimpse of his forthcoming sophomore album
Adrian Nation is a new name to me; here he offers a four track sampler EP from his impending second CD titled FALL OR FLY. Producer Chris West, who helped helm Richard Ashcroft’s Keys To The World release, coaxes the best out of Adrian and the musicians assembled for this project.
Opener Don’t Turn Away, is infectious, rhythmic and uplifting; featuring a resonator guitar, electric guitar and the solid groove of famed drummer Gerry Conway. This sinewy track also features a neat acoustic guitar solo and delicious Hammond B3 organ from Nick Holland. The hired help doesn’t overpower Mr Nation; his plaintive vocals and acoustic guitar are at the root of this and the other songs. This urgent rocker moves quickly into climatic choruses; ‘Don’t turn away because the mountains hard to climb …. Don’t turn away you know there’s so much left to learn’.
Brightest Star, a poignant acoustic ballad, features excellent acoustic guitar from Mr Nation with soothing cello from Stephanie Soby-Jones. ‘I’ll be the fire that keeps you warm, I’ll be the shelter in every storm’. The swelling strings remind me of one of those great old Gordon Lightfoot chestnuts. It’s a lovely song.
The Heart Beats On with its propulsive rhythm and terrific harp playing, courtesy of one Graham Pike, lifts the pace again. Famed guitarist and producer, Colin Linden (a favourite of Nation’s), plays some sultry slide guitar here. The lyric; ‘The heart beats on, the rest is up to you’, says it all.
The closing Set Fire To The Sky is a stark ballad which highlights what a fine guitarist Adrian is. His string bending and tone is most impressive. The music creates a feeling that echoes the lyrics, a desire to be elsewhere: ‘Far in the distance, five birds in a row sit on a wire, ready to go. I wish I could go with them, I wish I could fly’.
Adrian Nation has clearly soaked up the influences of artists he admires; including the likes of Colin Linden, Stephen Fearing and Bruce Cockburn though there is a definite Celtic vibe to his music. However, this glimpse into the music of Adrian Nation proves that he is very much his own man. If you enjoy the work of people like Dougie Maclean or Richard Thompson then Adrian Nation will likely appeal to you.
It will be interesting to see if the forthcoming album can sustain the heights of this excellent EP. JB