 by Rob van Alstyne
Josh Rouse has always been peripatetic when it comes to his music. Ever since he followed up the alt.country leanings of his 1998 debut, Dressed Up Like Nebraska, with the unexpectedly shiny pop platter Home, back in 2000, Mr. Rouse has made a career of zigging when his fans expect a zag. The one constant throughout all the permutations of Rouse’s popcraft—which includes the playful retro kitschy soft rock funk of 1972 and 2004’s countrypolitan leaning Nashville—has been his unerring ear for melody and precise arrangements. So when word reached me that Rouse had fled the Nashville music scene he’d called home for a decade and moved to the tiny seaside town of Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain, it was hard to predict how the move would shake up his songwriting. Now comes the answer in the form of Rouse record no. 6, Subtítulo.
Apart from a few Spanish song titles (“La Costa Blanca” and “El
Otro Lado”) and the occasional bit of light Bossa Nova boogey (the finger-picked
classical guitar maneuvers of album opening “Quiet Town”) there
isn’t much evidence of a Mediterranean makeover on Rouse’s music.
“The arrangements on this record were really just a matter of economics
rather than any particular vision,” says Rouse, 34, who wrote the majority
of the album immediately upon his arrival in Spain and in full on culture shock
mode (he knew virtually no Spanish before leaving the states). “I thought
to myself, ‘Well I’m going to start my own label so maybe I should
just kind of do an acoustic record, a more folk thing’ because that’s
obviously going to be a lot less expensive to record. Eventually I was able
to get my drummer and producer out to Spain and we put a couple of strings on
later, but it’s still largely a voice- and acoustic guitar-driven record,
which is how I conceived of it.”
In striking contrast to the almost garishly full sound of a record like 1972,
Subtítulo is a record that draws much of its magic from open spaces,
with Rouse’s ever nimble guitar lines and pleasingly reedy voice front
and center. The tales Rouse chooses to tell in that spotlight vary greatly;
unlike past records—which tended to cohere around specific themes—Subtítulo
comes across like a collection of random sketches, the 10 latest offerings from
an always fertile songwriting mind thrown together without regard for any particular
unitary concerns. As a result the album feels a bit transitional, taking tentative
steps into interesting new terrain—the instrumental rocker “La Costa
Blanca” features a stinging Neil-Young-inspired-guitar-outro unlike anything
previously heard on a Josh Rouse album—while simultaneously refining some
already well-worn paths—the faux soul of “Wonderful” sounds
like a leftover from the 1972 sessions. The strongest moments on Subtítulo,
however, shine as bright as anything in Rouse’s already rather luminous
back catalog.
Among the most compelling cuts is the disco pop concoction “Givin’
It Up,” which marries a tale of total collapse and ultimate redemption
for an alcoholic finally kicking the habit with a thumping beat and swelling
string section. It’s the kind of adventurous amalgamation most artists
rarely attempt, but the sort of move Rouse pulls off with enough frequency to
make it look routine. “I’ve always liked beautiful melodies saying
dark things … ugly things,” says Rouse. “I quit drinking about
three years ago and that’s really just a story song with a snappy beat
kind of talking about that.”
 Clearly
wary of talking about himself during the course of our brief interview, Rouse
is a man who prefers making music to explaining himself—in his ideal world
the records would be allowed to speak for themselves and he would be able to
continue releasing them at a rapid rate (Subtítulo is his third
full-length record to see release in the last 2.5 years). “I guess it
depends on how much touring you do and stuff like that,” says Rouse of
his recorded prolificacy. “I just write enough songs to make a record
every year and I like doing it. I don’t like going on tour for two years
and playing one record. To keep it interesting for me I like having a new set
of songs, coming up with the artwork and that whole process is much more exciting
to me than touring. Traveling gets tiring, talking about yourself gets very
tiring.”
The portrait of Rouse painted in the official documentary “The Many Moods
of Josh Rouse” reinforces his apathy toward the music business at seemingly
every turn; so it comes as little surprise that Subtítulo finds
Rouse striking out on his own record label for the first time. Don’t be
surprised if his next step is eliminating press interviews altogether. After
spending years building a sizable enough cult following to make a decent living
off his music, Rouse no longer worries about grabbing for the brass ring of
widespread commercial success. Leave that to the record labels: he’s got
more songs to write.
“There’s too much bullshit involved with the labels now,”
states Rouse in a no nonsense tone. “I can’t deal with that many
people with their hands in the pot. The amount of behind-the-scenes ridiculousness
that goes on is just horrible, so little of it has to do with the music. It
will just make you sick if you choose to let it. Part of me is still always
thinking about what it would be like to be working in a restaurant or something
like that. As a musician you’re always one step away from doing something
else. The more you do it though, the more it’s possible to do it. I’ve
been lucky to make enough fans around the world to make a decent living off
of my music.” ||
Josh Rouse plays on Sat., Apr. 15 at the Cedar Cultural Center with
opening act Strays Don’t Sleep (featuring Matthew Ryan and Neilson Hubbard).
7 p.m. $18 adv / $20 door. All Ages. 416 Cedar Ave. S., Mpls. 612-338-2674.
For more information on Josh Rouse check out his official website at JoshRouse.com.
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