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Album Details

• Artist: Nathan
• Album: Key Principles
• Label: Nettwerk
• Year of Release: 2007
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2007-03-20

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The band known simply as Nathan is a tough nut to crack. They are a folk band and yet they seemed to have mastered the idea of pop music as well. If you are just getting introduced to the girls and guys in Nathan then you will immediately feel a roots or folk feel to their music, especially on Key Principles. But if you spend a few listens on the album you will start to realize that the roots flavor is only on the surface. These are pop songs with that folk sheen thrown over as camouflage. This is the group's third album so their songwriting is really blossoming. You get clapping along as soon as the second track, "Scarecrow", a real barn-burner. But then throw on "Daffodils" and you are presented with something Tegan and Sara would be more than happy to have written . "Trans Am" is a gentle song that aches of loneliness. But there are the country ballads as well that show up on "The Wind", a lovely song with some gentle banjo providing accompaniment. A country swing feel is presented on "You Win". Some wonderful waltzes grace the album as well.

So if it is Nathan's goal to come out of the folk realm slightly then they have succeeded. There are still those dusty songs here but really, Key Principles would appeal to much more than just the folk/roots/americana crowd.

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