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“Music can be the space where people think––even just for a few minutes,” says Israel Nash. “The space is not about changing their lives or political views or their party ticket. It’s about creating something that prompts reflection in a moment––and those reflections have other chain reactions.”
Israel Nash‘s latest long-player – the sixth studio release in his rather astonishing catalogue – is so good that it can, and does, whisk you off to a better, simpler place where everything is all right with the world.
It feels almost disrespectful to compare these songs with any other musicians, but there are shades of such luminaries as Neil Young and Van Morrison all over the place, and the added brass on the likes of ‘Down In The Country‘ add a kind of Muscle Shoals panache to proceedings that further enriches Nash’s sound to the extent that you could even imagine any number of Motown’s most celebrated luminaries performing these compositions. They really are that strong.
‘Southern Coasts‘ does indeed conjure up misty-eyed nostalgia of lazy, carefree days of sun, sea and sand, those softly building guitars reaching a colourful crescendo of aching beauty.
That’s exactly what comes across throughout Topaz – the warmth of community and people’s love and respect for each other, set throughout this spectacular backdrop of awe-inspiring scenery – just listen to the dazzling allure of ‘Indiana‘ for just one of many examples of this.
I doubt very much there will be another album released this year so effortlessly capable of cleansing and replenishing whatever remains of your soul from the last twelve months. It’s the prettiest record anyone has put out in years. (https://www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/author/loz-etheridge)
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