The title of Josh Rouse’s fifth album has cringe-worthy connotations of Dollywood, line dancing and men in Stetsons. However, Nashville is an attempt to show that there’s more to the music scene of the much-maligned city where Josh has been based and credits with teaching him the craft of songwriting.
Since he debuted with Dressed Up Like Nebraska in 1998 Rouse’s music has got mellower by the album. His last effort 1972 was a tribute to the light rock of his birth year. This treads similar ground and is an introspective singer-songwriter affair.
Each song is deeply personal and focuses on the mundane. Recorded during the dissolution of Josh’s marriage, the general mood is melancholic.
‘My Love Has Gone’ tells of sleeping with the TV on, because the only sound he loves has gone, ‘Saturday’ is about the loneliness of being on tour, and there’s an apology for bullying a school friend in ‘Middle School Frown’. Indeed, such is the overall tone of morose introspection, it would appear that Josh has used recording as an alternative to a therapy session.
Although he’s a skilled songwriter with nice melodies, there’s nonetheless something a bit bland about Josh Rouse. The Smiths are a major influence on this album, but unlike Moz he doesn’t have the malicious wit to make his misery interesting. ‘Life is good, sometimes bad, it has its ups and its downs’ from Life is such an uninspired lyric that it’s hard to care about his troubles.
The mainly acoustic tracks are well produced by Brad Jones and very easy on the ear, but overall Nashville is a bit toothless.