Just a Few More Minutes

It's about time.

Thanks for Waiting is Seven Nations' eighth studio album (seventh if you consider The Pictou Sessions as an advanced release of the self-titled disc), and it's been long overdue. The previous album, and now it's come to this was released on the Razor and Tie label in 2002. The next couple of years saw the band scaling back their touring and working on side projects. Singer Kirk McLeod released a piano CD, piper Scott Long put together a nice compilation of his own (including an unreleased track with him and Ashley MacIsaac), and Dan Stacey's Crank It kicked Canadian fiddle butt. All we saw under the Seven Nations name was a couple of releases of a Christmas EP, and some noncommittal remarks that they were working on something.

That "something" is their best album yet. All of the music is new -- not a single track recycled from a previous album, which has been a minor complaint of mine. What's more, the music is a real creative stretch for the band. It sounds like they had fun with it, especially "Waltz for Crystele," a decidedly skewed look at a hellish ex-girlfriend. There are bluegrass hints sprinkled all over the album. "Tradition," "Ordinary," and "Sumthin Sumthin" come the closest to capturing 7N's older anthemic sound, and "It's Alright" is a terrific country-fried drinking song.

Thanks for Waiting was worth it.