While he was born in Georgia and was raised on Georgian folk songs, when Nash Albert turned six he heard the rock and rock that was being smuggled into the USSR by his brothers. He formed a college band when he was 16 and in 1991 his band Salamandra came to the US where he played in that band and others for several years. After returning to Moscow in 1996 he formed the band Blast. They released an album the following year and then toured in the UK, Europe and Russia, including opening for Deep Purple in 2010 at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow. In 2014, following the release of a couple more albums with Blast, Nash started a solo career with the album Rude Beggar that was produced by The Icicle Works' Ian McNabb, and was followed in 2022 by his sophomore release Yet. That brings us to his fantastic new release Kingdom Of Love. The album opens with “Thought As Time,” which starts with strummed acoustic guitar and then builds into a strong atmospheric alt rocker with Albert’s deep goth like vocals. It at times reminds me of the underappreciated eighties band The Bolshoi with bits of U2 mixed in. The eighties alt rock with a modern day edge sounds continue with “Better Home,” which would have been right at home on a John Hughes soundtrack back in the day, while “Professor Steiner’s Trip” adds some psychedelia and a little funk to his sound. “Berlin Wall” finds him shifting in more of a prog rock direction, opening with haunting keys and vocals that build as the song progresses, reminding me of Fish-era Marillion. Dedicated to his mother, “Maya” is a beautiful and hypnotic ballad that has a sparse sound instrumentally that is really highlighted by his captivating deep vocals and Mariam Tsibakhashvili’s cello. The influence of The Beatles can be heard in the bouncy, sunshiny psychedelic pop of “Around The Sun,” while the poppy alt rock of “Beautiful Day” has a bit of a upbeat country beat. The introspective “Someone Else Is Me” is captivating, and while sounding a little like Pink Floyd at the beginning, “Stars” is a very big and sweeping laid-pack psychedelic track. With an emotional vocal performance that has echoes of Bowie accompanied by piano, “My Friend” is a gorgeous song. The album ends very strongly with the hypnotic, midtempo title track. Kingdom of love is a stunning album that pulls in alot of different elements stylewise as you make your way through but still manages to be a very cohesive collection.
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