VNV Nation

Industrial / electronic musical project VNV Nation was founded in London, England by Irish singer, songwriter, musician, and producer Ronan Harris (born in Dublin on June 14, 1967). Influenced by electronic bands such as The Human League, Kraftwerk, and DAF, Ronan Harris joined Irish noise / electronic group Die Fabrik. Moving to London, England in 1987, he began to establish his own music personality two years later when he started working on music under the name Nation. Relocating to Toronto, Canada in 1990, he continued to experiment with music until he re-emerged in 1994 under the name VNV Nation. The first VNV Nation album, Advance and Follow, was released in 1995 and featured a unique mix of electronic industrial music, dance beats, and classical elements. VNV Nation began to build an international following with subsequent album Praise the Fallen (1998) but came to commercial prominence with the release of Empires (1999). The success of Empires laid the groundwork for Futureperfect (2002), which was even more successful, climbing to Number 26 in Germany and Number 24 on Billboard’s Dance Albums chart in the US. After successful tours to promote Futureperfect, VNV Nation returned with Matter + Form (2005), which was produced by German trance DJ Humate. The album was another success and hit Number 7 on Billboard’s Dance Albums chart. The albums Judgment (2007) and Of Faith, Power & Glory (2009) were also successful and rose to Number 6 and Number 5, respectively, on the same Billboard Dance chart. The 2011 album Automatic charted in several different countries including Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, and Germany, where it reached Number 8. After 2013’s Transnational, Resonance: Music for Orchestra Vol. 1 (2015) was a musical departure and featured classic VNV Nation songs rearranged for orchestra and voice. VNV Nation returned to their classic sound with Noire (2018), which rose to Number 4 on the German Albums chart. After a five-year wait, the group returned in 2023 with the album Electric Sun, which landed at Number 5 in Germany.