Like an old friend who keeps going travelling, Rouse has a habit of popping up once a year sounding mellow and armed with stories of romantic encounters. You remember just how much you like them and wonder at their laid-back approach to life.
Though the album was largely written and recorded in Spain where Rouse now lives, his peripatetic lifestyle has not turned him into a “world” musician, and Country Mouse City House sees him sticking to his usual blueprint – 1970s singer-songwriter with alt.country leanings.
The opening track, Sweetie, and Domesticated Lovers perfectly evince his easy-going style with gentle washes of lap steel and languid organ fills, while Italian Dry Ice, the tale of a roving former lover, has a loose, Staxy feel and lovely warm brass. Never one to overstay his welcome, Rouse is quickly off again just nine tracks later.
(Bedroom Classics)