Rating: NNNN
On his sixth full-length album, songster Josh Rouse tips his hat to his adopted hometown but remains the pop debonair we fell in love with on 2003’s 1972. In many ways, Nashville is a similar record – Rouse reproduces his powerful blend of 60s Britpop and acoustic folk, creating a wall of sound with layers of tambourines, handclaps and strings and letting his oozy Bolanesque vocals and upbeat tempos rip through the mix. Nashville is an ode to Rouse’s coming of age, and the trajectory of the songs echoes his increasing maturity, which he enhances by dividing the album into sides A and B like an old 45. When he finally adds a little country to his rock ‘n’ roll with some steel gee-tar pickin’ and honky-tonk piano on Why Won’t You Tell Me What, you realize growing up in Nashville did have some influence on him.