Tag: Kenneth J Nash

Kenneth J Nash’s fourth album is a slow-burning affair, in keeping with his world-weary demeanour. It’s not just the structure of the album but of the songs themselves – they appear out of the silence with the tiniest of sounds and build gradually to what may be considered a climax.

Take ‘St Mary’s Heart’. It’s a song about a wedding, presumably Kenneth’s, but recounted with the knowledge that it is destined to fail. There is no joy here: Kenneth narrates the events of the day sombrely and only when the tragedy comes does he raise his voice to the accompaniment of a crystal clear mandolin. It’s a beautifully constructed song as is ‘The Way That She Moved’ which I think is about lost love. It’s carried along on Amber India Frost’s cello and fades out with the sound of the sea, mermaid voices and an accordion.

The record starts with a short instrumental, ‘Eden’, played on clear ringing guitar. Kenneth repeats the tune later as ‘The Fall Of Eden I’, a rather more subdued arrangement introducing the final track, ‘The Fall Of Eden II’, a song with such lines as “this lonely pain is driving me insane” and “I sorry but it’s gonna hurt you”.

Despite the fact that it oozes misery, I quite like The Fall Of Eden. It’s well put together and imaginatively arranged but I could take a bit more anger from Kenneth. He seems to have taken all the troubles of the world on his shoulders and his prevailing emotion is regret. It may seem cruel to say this but if you find Leonard Cohen too animated then Kenneth J Nash is your man.

Dai Jeffries