Lynn Macgillivray
Nathan Carter shows no signs of slowing down, having released his ninth studio album Livin’ The Dream last Friday (16 June). The album is his eighth in as many years.
The singer has only just turned twenty-seven but has already made a name for himself within the County and Irish music genre. Nathan has breathed life into the Irish country scene and has brought the genre to an entirely new generation. This is evident in the success he has had over the last few years.
His latest album features thirteen songs (a number of these are covers with the remainder being original songs). Nathan has had great success with covers in the past, including his cover of “Wagon Wheel” in 2012 which has been his highest charting single in Ireland to date.
The album is predominately Irish country and has a fantastic mix of ballads as well as uptempo tracks. The lead single from the album was “Livin’ The Dream” which was released earlier this year. The uptempo track encourages you to follow your dreams and is really inspiring. It is the perfect lead single for the new album.
You can check out Nathan Carter’s video for “Livin’ The Dream” below:
Another inspirational song on the album is “Stay Alive”. The track is essentially about the journey of life, told from a grandad’s experience and is one of the standouts on the album.
Towards the end of the album lies another of the standouts “Rollin Home”. This song is so catchy it just makes you want to get up and dance. “Me And You” is another catchy song and we hope Nathan performs these on his upcoming tour, as we think they will be crowd favourites and great songs to get any party started.
Another uptempo song on the album is “Carribean Cloud”. Again, this is super catchy, but what sets it apart from “Rollin Home” is its summery, laid-back feel. If summery songs are what you are looking for, then you are in luck as “Summer’s Here” is another perfect song. This one has the same laid-back vibe and just feels really easy going.
So, we promised you ballads and this album has plenty. One of the standouts is Nathan’s cover of the beautiful classic “Jealous of the Angels”. Nathan fills this song with so much emotion and this coupled with the lyrics, brings us close to tears. In addition to this, covers of “Riding With Private Malone”, “Holdin’ A Good Hand” and “Ned On The Hill” as well as the original song “Just Hasn’t Happened To Me” are all fantastic ballads with beautifully written lyrics.
The song which most closely represents the Irish Country genre on the album is Nathan’s cover of “BeeSwing”. It has such a traditional feel to it and you can really hear the use of all the instruments. It is taking songs like this and modernising them which has helped make Nathan a household name.
Nathan definitely saved one of the best for last, with his cover of “Summer In Dublin”. The version on the album is a live version taken straight from Nathan’s performance at the 3 Arena. This gives you a taste of just how amazing Nathan is live, and we love that you can hear the crowd singing along.
The full Livin’ The Dream tracklist is as follows:
“Livin’ The Dream”
“Caribbean Feeling”
“Beeswing”
“Holdin’ A Good Hand”
“Just Hasn’t Happened To Me”
“Summer’s Here”
“Riding With Private Malone”
“Jealous Of The Angels”
“Me And You”
“Ned Of The Hill”
“Stay Alive”
“Rollin Home”
“Summer in Dublin” (Live from 3Arena)
RATING: 4/5
