For Josh Rouse fans,

You may have reserved your enthusiasm for a new record, considering his last effort with “The Long Vacations“[?] left so much to be desired.  Luckily, as soon as you put on his new effort, The Happiness Waltz, you really only have 0:38 longer to wait for that long awaited return to form!

The sweep of multitracked arpeggiated guitars that bring in the first of a long list of strong hooks with “Julie (Come Out of the Rain)” is only a small indication of things to come.  Track 2, “Simple Pleasure”, Rouse then revives the happy bass playing that so many listeners are longing for, with “when you”/”won’t you” refrains that pull you back to his strong writing in the mid-00s and even dance-inspired kick drum breakdown at 3:15.

By the end of the second song, Rouse has already established a link with some of his best work via records 1972, Nashville and Subtitulo.  Like those records, this one abounds with New York and California nostalgia and critique, 70s-sounding hi-hat work, a bit of banjo, a jolt of horns, etc.  These, however, our only dressings.  Most importantly, this record shares those records’ strong songwriting – this is definitely his best set of songs since that period.

Start listening with “This Movie’s Way Too Long”.  The intro pulls so directly from Nashville, the song has to develop before you can recognize this isn’t a cheap re-write of one of those songs, with its build of staccato guitar work throughout the verses, and the fantastic recurring electric guitar riff.  Importantly, the extended bridge section, at 2:15 covers some territory with a shift in pace that might have been too much of a departure for a Josh Rouse composition circa 2005.  Also noteworthy here are the multiple solos that bring the song to its conclusion.

Other tracks such as “Our Love”, with its backing vocals first heard at 0:56, and the harmonies in the hook of “A Lot Like Magic” show some small innovations to the standard repertoire so well honed by Rouse over the past decade or so.  Speaking of honed, I cite the backing instrumentation on “It’s Good To Have You”.  The song builds from acoustic and lead vocal, adding tasteful electric piano work, and a flute work!  There’s even a guitar/flute/electric piano solo section!!!  That took courage.

Honestly, the biggest distinction between this record and some of Josh’s most recent work – the writing here hits with more somber/sincere moments of analysis and reflection, which recent records would dance around or dress up.  “Purple and Beige” is one example of this, with some inspired upright bass work that makes the song for me.  In fact, this record probably generates the best and most consistent atmosphere of any record since Nashville.

My criticisms of The Happiness Waltz are few and far between, but they mostly are result of comparison between this and Rouse’s prior work.  For one, he isn’t challenging himself much with this effort, adhering to the aesthetic, writing and production regime achieved for the first time about a decade ago.  Also, emblematic of Rouse’s Spanish-period (since 2006 or so) is a lyrical over-reliance on distinguishing his current lifestyle and the American hip-living locales he gave up (“City People, City Life”, etc).  In so many ways, his past few records are the clearest pop presentation of domestic bliss since Ram or Double Fantasy!  [Maybe an interesting compilation idea – gather up the best of Rouse’s domestic-related work and see how it measures up…]  Lastly, Rouse could really benefit from at least a track or two on the record that really broke out and rocked things up a little.  An inspired guitar run could really push a few of these tracks to a new territory.  For example, how fantastic would it have been in “The Western Isles” if a country-fried telecaster came in at 2:25?  There are audible guitar bits here and there throughout the song to indicate interest in heading this direction but nothing ever totally bubbled to the top of the mix.

As the song says “simple pleasures are all I want”, and this record delivers these in spades.  Kudos!

-MYH