“Stick Around” is off his forthcoming album Going Places, which releases July 29.
Today, acclaimed singer/songwriter Josh Rouse shares the new single "Stick Around" off his forthcoming album Going Places, which releases July 29 via Yep Roc Records.
Inspired by the groovy American and English music of the 1970's, the song is punctuated with an unexpected Memphis-style horn line. It was featured this morning at BrooklynVegan, who called it "a song that's warm, welcoming, unpretentious, and serves as a promising taste of the new LP."
Pre-order Going Places here.
"I wrote this one summer while doing an outdoor show in Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain," explains Rouse. "We recorded the song in a couple takes, it sounded somewhere between J.J. Cale and Fairport Convention, until I had Jim Hoke put some saxes on it and it became something else entirely. A barbecue strummer!"
Going Places came together over the last two years when Josh Rouse found himself hunkered down with his family in Spain. Inspired by a desire to perform live during a time when that was virtually impossible to do, he got together with his Spanish band to workshop the songs in a small local venue owned by a friend.
The resulting collection of songs trades the polished sheen of his prior work for a looser, more relaxed vibe. Where 2018's Love in the Modern Age saw Rouse take a left turn to keyboard-based retro-new wave territory, Going Places is steeped in waves of his classic guitar melodies, with touches of organ and horns, layers of backing vocals and a distinctive southern twang. Listen to the debut single "Hollow Moon."
Over the last two decades, Josh Rouse has solidified his status among this generation's most acclaimed songwriters with insightful lyrics and a warm, effortless style. His work has been celebrated by press including Associated Press, Billboard, NPR Music, Los Angeles Times, BrooklynVegan, Salon and more.
Forbes called him "a masterful songwriter," and Paste declared, "His knack for setting a simple feeling to a breezy melody shines through again and again." Now passing 50 years old, Going Places marks the next phase of his career. Looking toward the future, the new album once again proves Rouse's undeniable ability to evolve and push his sound forward, delivering something that is both familiar and wholly new.
Listen to the new single here:
June 22 - Vienna, VA @ Jammin Java
June 23 - Long Beach Township, NJ @ Long Beach Island Foundation
June 25 - Albany, NY @ The Linda WAMC's Performing Arts Studio
June 26 - Cambridge, MA @ Club Passim
June 28 - Old Saybrook, CT @ Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center
June 29 - Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live
June 30 - New York, NY @ City Winery
September 9 - Minneapolis, MN @ Dakota
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