• Band / Artist : Nathan Wiley – mySpace
• Genre : Rock
• Sample Track Download : North American Dream
• Buy CD : CD Baby
• Buy Digital Download : CD Baby – iTunes
• Rating : 9.5 out of 10

I’d heard a few of Nathan’s songs on various podcasts and think I actually approached him once to do a review. A few months passed and I was looking for a little something for the podcast and saw Nathan’s name on the Podsafe Music Network. I listened to a few tracks and settled on “Back to Bed”. This relit my fire and prompted me to find out a bit more about Nathan. When I heard the track “One of the Worst Ones” I was blown away. With a mix of great music and distinct vocals, it’s very reminiscent of that 70’s AM sound, with some very George Harrison style guitar.

I finally got the album in for review a few weeks ago, and have to admit I was disappointed. The album begins with “One of the Worst Ones” and like the previously reviewed Voyce’s album, the killer track is the one that opens and from there on in, everything seems to be measured against it. I played the album a couple of times, over the course of a week, without consciously trying to review it, listening in the car or at work and then when I came back to the album to listen with the aim of reviewing, everything seemed to fall into place.

The title track takes a more sombre direction and it’s probably the track that set me back a bit, after the relatively bouncy opener. It’s when you really sit down and listen to this album, that it really begins to unfold before you, like a kind of narrative. “Seven Reasons” has an interesting feel to it and it’s here that I feel those creative juices begin to flow. “Needle in the Groove”, has an almost reggae feel to it and I can’t help but get excited about all the diverse influences channeled into what has turned out to be a quite masterful album.

“Back to Bed” is the track I played on the podcast and it almost plays like a lullaby. It’s a relatively short, but beautiful track. I’ve spoken before about artists using less than conventional instruments and it’s nice to hear on “One Bad Woman” what sounds like a glockenspiel. “Graveyard” could almost be a homage to George Harrison, with those very distinctive guitars, a a very similar lyrical flow.

“Get Away” is I suppose you could say the official last track of the album and again has yet another unconventional instrument, this time a kazoo. The song itself has that lazy sunny day feel and would have been a great way to round off the album. It is however “Fistful of Throttle” that seems to have been added to the album, as it’s not part of the 1-12, official track list, just appearing as “Also Including…”. It’s an interesting track, with a hint of the 70’s, again it could be the guitar that gives this feel. It’s not a closing song though, as I almost felt like there should have been another track after it.

Conclusion : An absolutely stunning and interesting album, which will certainly be played to death and then some.