Israel Nash: Silver Season
If Israel Nash’s voice gives you déjà vu, then it may be because the man sounds like he descended from your most lovely of daydreams—but more likely, it’s because he’s a dead ringer for an early-days Neil Young. Silver Season, Nash’s fourth LP, whose cosmic forefather is the legendary After the Gold Rush, was recorded in the studio he built on his 15-acre property in Dripping Springs, Texas. That sense of open space is all over the nine-song album, with sprawling, swirling Americana arrangements. Stripped-down to an acoustic guitar, gorgeous opener “Willow” or the swooning “LA Lately” would be perfect campfire fodder. These gems are stretched and pulled into wonderfully ragged vehicles of mellow, psychedelic vibes. Nash is a familiarly world-weary narrator (with a possible Young nod) when he sings, “So tired of the people; they just bring me down” on “ParlourSong.” There’s nothing red hot like “Southern Man” here. Rather, Nash’s songs gently ripple and rhythmically churn—check out the echoing intro dive into the rolling “Strangers”—creating an ethereal, fluid atmosphere. Nash is among excellent psych-Americana peers (Father John Misty, Jonathan Wilson and Phosphorescent come to mind), but the heavenly mixture of sound and space makes Silver Season a standout.