Josh Rouse’s second album, Home, was released in 2000 and basically picked up where Dressed Up Like Nebraska left off. Rouse was born in Nebraska, incidentally, a distinction he shares with fellow pop tunesmiths Elliott Smith, Conor Oberst and Matthew Sweet. Must be something in the water of the Great Plains.

Home has a more polished sound than Rouse’s debut and introduces horns and strings into the mix. But it’s otherwise not much of a departure… more solid, mostly acoustic pop songs.

Opening track ‘Laughter’ is one of my favorites on Home. I especially like the way Rouse rushes the words “figured out” in the chorus — not sure why, but I’ve always found that very cool.

The meaning of this one is a bit of a mystery to me. I believe it’s about a painfully shy person who holds back his thoughts and feelings out of fear of being ridiculed. He “thinks” his plan is safe from laughter but winds up holding back anyway.

I wonder if this is a song about trying to put your music (or any sort of art) out there and facing the slings and arrows of audiences and critics alike.