New Josh Rouse!

Even though he's more singer-songwriter than power pop, Josh Rouse has been one of my favorite artists for years now. And thankfully for music fans, he's also been one of the more prolific artists for years now, rarely going more than 18 months between albums. He's ready to release his latest, Subtitulo, on March 21, barely a year after his brilliant release, Nashville. This may or may not be news to you, but what's news to me is that he's now streaming the first four tracks from Subtitulo on his myspace page.

Obviously you should listen for yourself, but on first listen I have to say that the man has done it again. The lead track, "Quiet Town", is short (approx. 2:30) but sweet, largely acoustic but catchy. "Summertime" is next, a very stripped-down tune that almost sounds like Josh as Jack Johnson. "It Looks Like Love", though, is vintage Rouse, a midtempo number that swells to a hummable chorus, not unlike "Streetlights" from Nashville. I had read that there would be an instrumental or two on the album, and the fourth streamed track, "La Costa Blanca", is just that.

Thanks to the wonderful app Replay Music, I've captured these tracks for iPod play to tide me over until I can pick up the actual release. March 21 can't come soon enough.

UPDATE: I noticed in the forum on his site that the next 4 tracks from Subtitulo will be streamed on the myspace page next week. Giddyup!

UPDATE II: It pays to poke around the forum. The mp3s from Rouse's acoustic "White Session" in France last year (including a cover of Neil Young's "For The Turnstiles") can be found here.

UPDATE III: (Maybe I should have waited to finish my forum trip before doing these updates.) Nettwerk Records has a 7-track compilation for free download, and one of the tracks is "Wonderful" from Subtitulo. Click on this link to grab the 35.9 MB zip file.