Outside of Australia, too few music enthusiasts have had the pleasure of hearing the deftly plundered songsmithing of
the Sleepy Jackson,
Gelbison, and
Old Man River. In their homeland, these bands enjoy high respect and a high profile to boot. Outside of the big backyard, though, they seem almost lost in a haystack. When these three potent bands decided to share some members for a grand side project, the Australian press yelled "Super group!," while the rest of the world mumbled "Who?" The side project in question is
Nations by the River, consisting of
the Sleepy Jackson's main provocateur,
Luke Steele, brothers
Edo and
Nadav Kahn from
Gelbison, and
Ohad Rein of
Old Man River fame. Conceptualized during a 2003
Sleepys/
Gelbison joint tour, the band coalesced under the boys' mutual love for
country and
folk music, and provided a platform for them to explore a simpler, stripped-down version of the high-and-lonesome (and tastefully
psychedelic) sounds they were already creating in their established groups. Listening to the albums from their antecedent bands, it is possible to get an idea of the talent present here, but not much insight into what really makes
Nations tick (as the new band has an identity all its own). The pure and Spartan beauty of
Nations' debut album, Holes in the Valley, provides high contrast to the kitchen-sink-inclusive pastiche of
the Sleepy Jackson's dense recordings, as well as the
folk-tronic/
americana experimentations of
Gelbison, but that simplicity doesn't come at the expense of clever songwriting or memorable hooks. Holes in the Valley is a flowing, solid effort throughout its 12-song stretch, even with dark pauses like "Heroin" (not the
Lou Reed tune) perforating the lineup.
Nations by the River are haunting when they're hurting (the searching "Kids World" or the heart-wrenching "Lovers") and rousing when they're carousing (the jubilant "We Dance Every Day"), but the manic mood swings never send the album off of its tracks completely and the whole thing has an overall feeling of purpose and place. Full of unadorned harmonies and enigmatic instrumental textures, the album links the traditions of the past with the innovations of the future via a strong songwriting sense of the present. If this is a "one-off" collaboration, it will stand well enough on its own as a sepia-stained document of where the guys were (emotionally and artistically) when they made the record. If it is just the beginning of a long line of
Nations projects, then it makes for one helluva launching pad for further explorations of
Nations by the River's earnest brand of music-making. ~ J. Scott McClintock, All Music Guide
