Best Songs of 2013 – #12
Here’s the Josh Rouse song I alluded to during the most recent Random Weekend.
Rouse has always reminded me of Paul Simon, even before he started dabbling in exotic rhythms. He has a similar knack for infectious melodies, usually based around an acoustic guitar with occasional horn flourishes. Stylistically, much of Rouse’s discography could fit comfortably on Simon’s early solo albums.
The Random iTunes Fairy is giving us a little sneak peek at one of next week’s featured artists.
Josh Rouse’s The Happiness Waltz is a breezy, sun-drenched album full of songs just like this one. Most of them take the perspective of a man who has lived a full but troubled life and finally arrived at a place of peace and (as the album title suggest) happiness.
It’s been six years since Josh Rouse released a proper solo album along the lines of his stellar mid-career trio, Under Cold Blue Stars, 1972 and Nashville.
He followed his muse (and his wife) to Spain after 2007’s Country Mouse, City House and released one half-Spanish album and a couple of sleepy EPs. And while those records had their moments, they just didn’t feel like the Josh Rouse I love.
