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Nations By The RiverHoles In The Valley Virgin/EMI With the possible exceptions of A Perfect Circle and The Dissociatives, supergroup side projects seem inevitably to do little more than to retreat into the immense shadow cast by their more popular predecessors. Hopefully that will not be the fate of Nations By The River, a project featuring the likes of Sarah Blasko, Ohad Rein, Gelbison's Edo and Nadav Kahn and The Sleepy Jackson's Luke Steele. Their debut 'Holes In The Valley' is a beautiful record, mixing all the simpler aspects of Gelbison and the Sleepies with impressive harmonies and a noticeable hint of experimentation. I Don't Want You and Boy, both the babies of the Gelbison boys, are great melodic pieces; firing the album away before the slightly disconcerting country twinge of Steele's Heart Attack Romance. Cracking Up is perhaps the only bad song on the record, so let's skip that and end up at Steele's next contribution, the slow assault of Kids World. This is possibly the most distressing song I've ever heard, at once bewildering and strangely passionate. When the recorder clicks in and we're left merely with Steele and an acoustic guitar, it's one of the most impassioned moments in music I've ever heard. Alright, I'll say it - Luke Steele makes this record and the Kahn brothers simply add the sugar on top. These Are The Times, for example, is a good Gelbison-esque tune, but Would It Be Nice and Heroin are spectacular tracks, raw yet passive and inviting. I really want radio to pick up on this, and give us our fix while we wait for the next Sleepy Jackson album.  |
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