Julian Nation

Pitchfork:

Melbourne's Julian Nation keeps his indie-pop simple, completely forgoing anything extravagent like solos, bridges, and, um, choruses.

Clocking in at less than a minute and a half, "Lost Swedish Penpals" (from his 18-minute debut We Are All Writers) describes a short-lived postal relationship through acoustic guitars, beginner's piano, glockenspiel, and Nation's unspeakably fragile bedroom quaver.

Here, Nation borrows the kind of melancholy wordplay perfected by his eternally underrated countrymen the Lucksmiths: "Well, we both had our weaknesses/ Mine was broken promises and yours was broken English."

Dude, Jens Lekman speaks English just fine, but he thought you said "Maple Leaves."

Sydney Morning Herald:

Ten songs in 18 minutes by an improbably named 19-year-old who declares he's not interested in writing choruses or solos? Sounds like it's going to be a quick burst of thrashy punk or the like, doesn't it?

Far from it. Julian Nation has drunk deeply from the same pop well as Swede Jens Lekman, Sydney's Darren Hanlon and Glasgow's Stuart Murdoch. The result is a collection full of naive charm accompanied by arrestingly catchy tunes, where glockenspiel, guitar and a cheap keyboard give yeoman's service.

One minute Nation sounds like your precocious teenage brother, the next like a grown man who knows all the works of Bacharach and David.
It is true that, for the moment, each of Nation's songs can be categorised as either a Lekman, Murdoch or Hanlon derivative, as he happily wears his influences on his sleeve, chest, back and, probably, forehead. It is also true that these are absolutely appealing songs for both the bedsit and the sunny park bench.

(Bernard Zuel)


Indie Pages:

If I had heard this without knowing who it was, I would've guessed that this was a Swedish fellow, as this album has all of the basic qualities of a Swedish bedroom pop record: short, simple and catchy pop songs with a lo-fi aesthetic.

In fact, with Julian's earnest and sometimes poignant lyrics (and occasional crooning-style of singing), you'd think that these were recordings Jens Lekman might've made when he was a youth.

However, Julian is actually from Melbourne, although he does show an affinity for Sweden with 'Lost Swedish Penpals'. Almost every one of these brief tunes (only a couple last longer than a couple minutes, with the whole album barely 19 minutes long) is an endearing treat, with favorites including '1992', 'All The Capital Cities' Names' and the opening 'Press Gang Kids'.

A few of the songs are a little unpolished (missed note here, off-tempo beat there), but it doesn't get in the way of the enjoyment of the song, and that just comes with the territory of bedroom pop anyways... (9/10)


Time Off:

Some of the best things in life are short; coffee for starters, but also films (Before Sunset, anyone? What about Run Lola Run?). So there’s something beautiful about an LP that lasts only 18 minutes.

Each morsel of poptastic goodness contained within this album barely hits two minutes, but this is definitely a case of quality over quantity. If you can imagine The Lucksmiths organising a ping-pong match between Jens Lekman and Stuart Murdoch, you’re somewhere in the vicinity of Julian Nation.

The personal highlight is ‘Lost Swedish Penpals’ with its bright piano motif lifted straight from a Michel Gondry film, while Nation sings of nostalgia for a friend from the other side of the world. A master of simple, yet evocative lyrics, lines such as "Wearing your last boyfriend’s T-shirt, he still had his heart on the sleeves" are innocent enough to make any songwriter jealous, while other times references to books, bands and games add charm.

Think of your favourite pastime in the world, and this is it, in recorded form. (Daniel Crichton-Rouse, 4.5/5)

Rave Mag:

Ever noticed how there's that breed of four-tracked, home-recorded releases of the indie genre that tend towards being either a bit too smug or overwrought?

Well, We Are All Writers is a refreshing antidote and the exact antithesis of nauseatingly twee, cardiganed kids on anti-depressants. At times it even leans towards being slightly melancholic, unashamedly displaying gloomy British influences especially on All the Capital Cities' Names and Division.

Elsewhere, the album is kind of easy-listening, constantly self-effacing, slightly humorous, disarming and thoroughly charismatic. Making a complete, full-blooded pop album using only a guitar, glockenspiel, Casiotone and bass has never sounded so appealing or engaging – you will be charmed.

Obscure Sound:

I'm usually one for quality over quantity. If you are as well, I strongly recommend Julian Nation, a young artist from Melbourne, Australia.

All the songs recorded on his debut, We Are All Writers, were done when Nation was 19 on a four-track recorder. The album is ten tracks long reaching eighteen minutes, with the longest being 2:18. Remember though, quality over quantity is something Nation emphasises as well.

Upon first listen, a comparison to the sparkling pop of The Lucksmiths is almost immediate. Ironically, Nation claims that the first time he started writing music was on the way home from a Lucksmiths show. Another loose comparison would be to the almighty Jens Lekman, as Nation's storytelling of fascinating characters in seemingly unreachable locations is in a similar tone.

Nation's fondness of Sweden is no secret, as Nation proclaims brilliantly on 'Lost Swedish Penpals: "For our three-page relationship, well, we both had our weaknesses: mine was broken promises, yours was broken English". The lo-fi sound that Nation expresses is touched by only a guitar, bass, glockenspiel, and a Casitone, with some occasional drums.

The imaginatively titled '÷' would be the best vocal comparison to Lekman, almost sounding exactly the same. The melodies on the album are really not complicated or striking at all, but Nation has the lyrical and vocal hooks that make the simplistic music worthwhile. "And this division leaves as the only remainder," Nation moans as he brilliantly compares a broken relationship to mathematics, "a reminder that these things only work on paper, so I wrote down both our names and tore them in two".

'Halloween River Cruise' is told from a personal perspective: "When I was sixteen, I first swore the promise that I wouldn’t write songs for those I didn't like".

So, get on Julian Nation's good side, he might write a brilliant two minute song about you.

Sydney Morning Herald (blog):

Barely old enough to vote, debut album with ten songs done and dusted in 18 minutes. Naive pop maybe, Jens Lekman an influence definitely. He could be something in a few years.

Off The Record:

When I first heard Julian Nation, I thought this was actually some Belle And Sebastian or The Robot Ate Me song I've never heard before. Julian is from Melbourne, Australia and started making music at the age of 16 after seeing The Lucksmiths.

Using all he had, a guitar, a glockenspiel, a borrowed microphone, a Casiotone and a friend's bass guitar making songs of pure pop. By the time he was 19 he started recording using a four-track recorder he bought the day after seeing The Unicorns play at Trades Hall, the album was recorded in Julian's bedroom and the St.Marcs community centre in Fitzroy.

Creating a ten-song album titled We Are All Writers on Book Club Records. Julian writes songs but doesn't tell anybody...until now. Be sure to check it out.


One Chord:

Julian Nation is a 19-year-old boy from Australia. He started writing songs after seeing The Lucksmiths at the age of 16 and now three years later he has released his debut album that contains some songs that would be great enough to be included on a Lucksmiths album. Okay, that might be a tiny exaggeration, because The Lucksmiths are one of the best bands in the world right now. But I just like this kid a lot.

We Are All Writers contains ten songs and lasts less than 19 minutes. So these are very short lo-fi bedroom pop songs. This doesn't matter at all, because Julian is able to find your heart in less than two minutes.

A good example is the title track. It's a really beautiful and fragile track that reminds me of Swedish maestros Airliner and Chasing Dorotea. Two magical minutes. Yeah, I admit that it might be that sad and fucked up side of me that treasures that beautiful moment, however you do not need to have that side to enjoy Julian Nation's debut album.

As a whole, the record is actually very uplifting and really adorable. It's hard not to smile while listening to this. Songs such as '1992', 'Halloween River Cruise' and 'Press Gang Kids' are just wonderful pop tunes that somehow reflects the spirit of songwriting heroes such as Stephin Merritt and Jens Lekman.

Surely there are three or four tunes that aren't anything that special, but We Are All Writers is still a very strong and enjoyable debut album. I'm really looking forward to more. (4/5)

Frankie:

For 19-year-old Julian Nation, recording an album in his own sleeping quarters was as hard as it sounds.

"I was overly self-conscious and wouldn't record while anyone else was home, and the kid living next door would play Londonbeat's 'I've Been Thinking About You' really loudly every day for a t least five hours. Oh, plus I had no idea how to use microphones or four-track recorders," admits Julian.

But with the help of his friends Miranda, Audrey and Tim, We Are All Writers has turned out to be a low-fi collection of magical musical moments. Julian's musicianship extends to vocals, guitars, casiotone and the glockenspiel.

Despite being only 18 minutes in length, the music paints vivid pictures. Julian explains that keeping it simple was quite tricky.

"At school all I knew how to play were exam pieces for classical guitar, so learning how to pick/play bare chords was an achievement."

Think Darren Hanlon meets Jens Lekman.