Josh Rouse, meet the world – you may be seeing quite a bit more of each other.
Like Jesse Malin or Wilco he is happy to unleash some fierce rock and on several occasions his five-piece band enjoy some lengthy blues jams. While there are the expected acoustic readings of some of his best known songs and even the odd piano ballad (is that Coldplay I hear on 'Sad Eyes'?) Rouse is part of a musical generation that can't stay quiet for long.
#SAD EYES JOSH ROUSE PIANO FULL#
With a set full of songs like 'House at the Hamptons' - a slow burning gem that finds room for some wonderfully placed handclaps – it is easy to see that it is the songs which do the talking not the singer. He is less effusive between songs with only a handful of asides in an hour and a half (including a wry "Yeah, I'm great aren't I?" in response to a particularly loud whoop). But then the pay off - "But I'll spare you all the bulls*it, I will spare you all the desperate details." Beautiful. "I would swim across the ocean, I would lie down on a bed of nails," begins 'Saturday'.Ī nice sentiment but it's been said before. His whisky soaked voice recalls Ryan Adams and Gram Parsons and his lyrics are a joy. His songs are now a little tighter, a little more prepared to take you by surprise. 'Nashville' is his fifth album and while it treads largely similar ground to earlier releases '1972' and 'Under Cold Blue Stars' it seems like a coming together. Rouse, 33, has also taken a long road to the top. Nashville by Josh Rouse - CD (2005) for 17.80 from Pop / Rock Entertainment Weekly : Persistently gorgeous.patches together Cali rocks orange-sunset warmth with Britpops relentless longing. Her third album is released in the summer and it could be the one that breaks her in Britain. She drifts deftly from genre to genre underpinning each song with the same perfectly measured vocal delivery. Mckeown betrays no easily identifiable musical influences although she does have a lyrical persuasion toward some interesting name checks (Judy Garland and Walt Whitman are each mentioned twice). Mckeown's third album is released this summer By avoiding the obvious choice of an acoustic set she is deliberately subverting the singer/songwriter dynamic. Taking the stage alone except for a gleaming white electric guitar she is a bluster of spiked hair, seductive tones and expertly crafted songs. He has the familiar soft focus good looks of an American soap opera, a gentle, unforced vocal style and a songbook with enough depth and subtlety to make him a star.įollowing in the wake of Bright Eyes and Willy Mason, it seems that sensitive boys with broken hearts and nicely tuned guitars are well and truly back.Įrin Mckeown, supporting, is a slightly different proposition. Nashville's Erin Mckeown is supporting Josh Rouse's latest album tour and Rory popped along to see what all the fuss was about. Josh Rouse & Erin Mckeown By Rory Dollard This page has been archived and is no longer updated.Įvent Reviews You are in: South Yorkshire > Entertainment > Music > Event Reviews > Josh Rouse & Erin Mckeown