The name Seven Nations comes from the seven nations of the Celtic world, which are now known as Scotland, Ireland, Wales, The Isle of Man, Brittany, Cornwall, The Isle of Man, and some parts of Spain. It is worth noting that despite the name of the band, all the members are from New York.
Before I begin to really begin to review the band, I must admit that I had some serious apprehensions while popping in the CD. First off, I had associated Seven Nations as a Christian reference. One of the tracks simply entitled "God" did not help me dispell this illusion much, and the image on the front of the album made me even more apprehensive of the music that I was about to listen to. Fortunately, once I listened to the track I was most afraid of, I found out that the song had a very tasteful take on the faith of the band, the chorus being: "I had in mind for Eternity, yeah it's up to me." The chorus gives a clear idea the lyricist's take on religion without the intent to pressure the listeners to follow the same creed.
Their debut self-titled album release used much of the material from their previous "Pictou Sessions," an acoustic work, now turned electric for this newer poppier album. This is one of those instances where none of the band members are exactly virtuoso musicians, but somehow the elements that they put together become a great masterpiece. One definite influence on the greatness of this band comes from the fact that each band member plays their own instrument in addition to singing, giving the illusion of a much larger band than they really are.
The chord progressions and melodies are based off of old Celtic music, and as such is not prone to the same "box motions" so commonly used in modern rock and pop. The tunes are often jovial in nature only brought to a more earthy level by Kirk McLeod's smoky soulful voice. The mix of the instruments together sometimes even leaves a veteran musician rubbing their ears trying to figure out who just played what. There only instruments that really take a background position with this band is the electric guitar, and the 12-string acoustic guitar, leaving control of the melody with the fiddle, the bagpipes, the electric bass, and sometimes the piano, which do not disappoint.
McLeod's singing I believe transcends beyond lyrical communication, and becomes merely another instrument for the band, as there are several songs where he does not sing at all, such as "Scream," and I did not even notice until actively analyzing the album. His voice is both expressive and well-tuned, but is not so overt as to distract attention away from the rest of the band's musical prowess. Having four backup singers helps the listener realize that the group is much more than a singer with some backup instruments. It is a band.
There are other tracks where the musicians are given free reign to put a modern spin on traditional tunes, as in "The surprise Ceilidh band Set," which mixes together "Scotland the Brave," "Wearin' of the Green," and "The Rakes of Mallow," all of which are altered to fit the same key signature providing for a solid mix of melody.
Another part of the band's great mix of sounds is their ability to create a pause just long enough to make the listener move to the edge of their seat waiting for the phrase to complete itself. A perfect example of this pause is shown in "All You People," about two minutes into the song where there is an a capella balance of the member's voices making you yearn for the song to last longer because at two minutes, the song just needed to be longer. Instead of giving you the previous melody, though, the song switches gears and makes you feel as though you should be dancing to the song that was previously a song advocating the necessity of communication.
Heh... I just looked up the Genre classification that Seven Nations was under in the iTunes directory. Turns out they play "World" music, which is ironic considering that the band is situated out of New York. I suppose that it is appropriate to lump them in a Genre that does not fit them because I don't think there is one that is appropriate for a Rock/Pop/Celtic group.
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