Josh Rouse - The Embers of Time (2015)

“It’s my surreal expat therapy record,” observes Josh Rouse about his new LP, The Embers of Time out April 7th via Yep Roc Records. A career peak, The Embers of Time takes inspiration from his self-admitted crisis of confidence and bouts with existential psychotherapy in his adopted home of Valencia, Spain.

The 10-song collection of originals contains some of Rouse’s most beautiful arrangements and complex songwriting to date. First song and lead single “Some Days I’m Golden All Night” channels Glen Campbell-style Countrypolitan pop mastery through ‘Self Portrait’-era Dylan confessional lyrics. You can stream now exclusively via Entertainment Weekly.

Rouse has been called “one of contemporary music’s most engaging singer-songwriters” (NPR) as well as “a talent to outrank Ryan Adams or Conor Oberst” (Uncut), and with The Embers of Time he opens a new chapter in his lauded career. He split time recording the album between Valencia and Nashville, and enlisted Brad Jones (Justin Townes Earle) as producer. The record moves from the hushed twang of “Time,” where Josh recalls a stepfather who died too young and muses about his own mortality, to the deceptively sunny album closer “Crystal Falls,” which recounts a rare period of solace from his itinerant childhood. “In Crystal Falls I made a few good friends,” he sings. “It was just another stop. I never saw them again.”

Originally hailing from rural Nebraska, Rouse has carved out a distinguished career as a top-tier musician. His last record, ‘The Happiness Waltz’ earned unanimous praise, with AllMusic calling it “absolutely beautiful, like 10cc producing Al Green.”