Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
No one knows everything, and for many the absolute mystery of existence is what fuels their desire to at least make their opinion known, or at least ruminated upon to the point of existential angst and frustration.
In isolation, there perhaps remains a vestige of the mind to acknowledge the urge to express yourself honestly and with care, to protect oneself from the nagging voice we mistake for insanity or is it rather the clarity of our thoughts speaking without interruption? If it were madness to believe that creativity and art cannot exist in a time of darkness, then rather curse those who argue for its demise, we should perhaps preserve them in amber, or at the very least protect their souls with Topaz.
We use every natural weapon at our disposal when we learn to fight the division that separates us from belief, and for some, the understanding that we know so little is the driving force to create a piece of artist that it is truly phenomenal, a piece of the soul that deals with the insecurity of isolation and the insanity of the universe that saw the hairless ape look to the horizon and saw that it needed to be captured for posterity.
If our senses are the receptors of what art means, then Israel Nash in his latest album, Topaz, is the instrument to which it is delivered. Like Joshua’s trumpet, its effect is devastating, it leaves you weak at the knees, it absconds with your reasoning, but brings it back whole, resolute, filled with new ideas and itching to get started on building a new foundation and walls in which to keep the darkness out and the lights burning majestically, and mystically, in every part of the mind.
Through tracks such as the opening moments of Dividing Lines, Down In The Country, Canyonheart, the excellent Howling Wind and the fierce some Pressure, Israel Nash is himself, he flatly refuses to apologise for feeling emotion and for pushing his thoughts out into the open. Topaz is not just a gem, it is conformation of the poignant way that Mr. Nash has made it clear that isolation has its time and place, but in the end what we need is to come together when it is the right time, and demand that never again must we give into collective psychosis and folly.
An outstanding and insightful album, Israel Nash is an absolute treasure.
Israel Nash’s Topaz is out now.
Ian D. Hall