I had never heard of Nathan, a folk/rock group from Winnipeg, before receiving their new release Key Principles in the mail last week. I don’t know how I missed them before, but I was so impressed with this disk that I went on emusic.com and downloaded their previous CD as well, the Juno-nominated Jimson Weed.
The best way I can think of to describe Nathan is that they have echoes of the McGarrigles and Kate Jacobs. They have the same kind of female harmony front, occasionally quirky song structures and pop sensibilities as the McGarrigles, though neither singer has a voice as rich as either McGarrigle. Their songs also remind me very much of Kate Jacobs, one of my absolute favorite artists, at her best – their songs tell seemingly small stories that are deceptively simple but greater than the whole. Plus, the lead singer sounds a lot like Kate.
Here’s a sample of the writing quality, from the Keri Latimer-penned song “The Wind”-
“The wind, the wind, brings me cards from Argentina
It brings scarves from finer ladies
And the scent of the gardenias
Won’t sleep or rest, or sit itself beside me
If I run out, there’s no one that can hide me.
And I know that I’ll regret it,
But I think I’m gonna let it in.”
Another standout song, “John Paul’s Delivery,” tells about teenagers sneaking out of the house late at night and getting drunk around “a campfire fueled by some old fence and skies like planetariums.”
But there’s more – Nathan is wonderfully eclectic stylistically – their songs range from breezy, bouncy pop (“Daffodils”, “Scarecrow”) to loping banjo-driven folk stylings of “The Wind,” the accordion/banjo waltz of the title track, to western-swing (“You Win.”) Their instrumentation features banjo, accordion, pedal steel, and occasionally some dixieland/western swing-style horns.
Nathan’s Key Principles is the first clear candidate for the year-end Top 10 list I’ve yet heard from the 2007 releases I’ve received so far. They are a cult-favorite band waiting to happen.
It is interesting to note that there seems to be a really vibrant music scene in Winnipeg, what with The Wailin’ Jennys, The Duhks, Nathan Rogers, and now Nathan as some recent acts out of Winnipeg making noise in the folk/Americana scene.
