The American singer / songwriter Josh Rouse has somewhat acquired the image of a carefree, always optimistic singer, who delivers one light-hearted record after another, hitting his guitar in the sun. Not justified in view of his earlier work, but partly that image can be attributed to him himself. Rouse moved from the US to Spain around 2004, and since then many Spanish influences have crept into
… his music and his songs seemed to become more and more relaxed due to the pleasant Mediterranean climate. On his eleventh album The Embers Of Time, it appears that some clouds have moved in front of the sun, even on the Spanish coast. Rouse had a midlife crisis and went to therapy. He incorporates his thoughts and experiences on The Embers Of Time into ten intelligent songs, recorded in Valencia and Nashville. They are songs that again evoke a laidback feeling here, but tend a bit more to the albums from the beginning of his career, such as Under Cold Blue Stars (2002) and Nashville (2005), still his best work. (IV)more
