he was already a thoughtful writer with a heartbreakingly intimate voice and the unfailing ability to wrap his melancholy in warm and sweet melodies." it's plain that Josh Rouse arrived fully formed," writes 's Tim Sendra. "Listening to this collection of tracks taken. On, Rouse's Web site, he sells his "Bedroom Classics" - dozens of songs Rouse recorded live or in random locations (hotel rooms, apartments) available to fans.įor those who like a more traditional medium, the CD, Rhino Records recently compiled a two-disc set of Rouse's material - including several demos and outtakes - for "The Best of the Rykodisc Years," which covers the first seven years of Rouse's career. On the business side, he's marching to his own drummer. "She called me and said, 'I love "1972," ' and I was like, 'I was listening to you when I was 16 - and you're married to Paul Simon!' " Rouse told the paper. In 2004, the Australian newspaper The (Melbourne) Age noted Rouse was going to have dinner with Edie Brickell, the "What I Am" singer who is married to Paul Simon.
Though he has yet to have a breakthrough single in the United States, his music has appeared in the movie "Vanilla Sky" and TV shows including "Dawson's Creek" and "Party of Five." "There's an openness to the sound that I think I got from moving to, say, a big city in California to a Wyoming town of five or six hundred." "It really shaped me as a person," he told the Toronto Sun. Rouse was born in Nebraska and grew up around the West and the South. The 36-year-old singer's willingness to follow several paths may have come from moving around as a child.
Aside from Rouse's rough, intimate voice, that album sounds little like 2003's "1972," which features songs such as "Love Vibration" and "Comeback (Light Therapy)" and has a funkier, more upbeat production to match. “Love Vibration” got the whole room on their feet and the band closed with a song sung in Spanish reminding us of Rouse’s adopted country.Listeners to his first album, 1998's "Dressed Up Like Nebraska," may have lumped him into the alt-country movement. The back catalogue wasn’t forgotten with Nashville strongly represented by four numbers (“Why Don’t You Tell Me What”, “Carolina”, “It’s The Nightime” and “Winter In The Hamptons”). “Time” and “You Walked Through The Door” from the new record are perfect examples of that. Rouse is one of today’s best songwriters, concocting songs with a couple of chords, leaving space in the arrangements to emphasise the impact of the lyrics. The songs from “1972” and “Nashville” were treated to rapturous applause especially “Come Back” with its impossibly groovy bass line that also gave Rouse the opportunity to showcase his falsetto.Ī solo-acoustic version of “1972” gave a fresh perspective on one of his most famous tunes. The ethereal “Julie (Come Out Of The Rain)” was followed by the soulful “It’s Good To Have You”. The set list was a model of equity as almost all his albums post “1972” got an airing (except “Subtitulo” if I’m not mistaken). His band for this show is the same as he had during his last visit to London a couple of years ago but you could feel that all the touring they did after the release of Rouse’s previous LP, “The Happiness Waltz”, really made them gel particularly on the vocal harmonies. After welcoming us to “The Josh Rouse show” and asking us to reserve our most fervent clapping for the new songs with a sly grin, Rouse and his band launched into “Some Days I’m Golden All Night” followed by “Too Many Things On My Mind”, the two opening tracks from “The Embers Of Time”.