Though he has enjoyed spates of success, amassed a loyal fanbase, and become a trailblazing troubadour across the Central Coast, the Cali-hailing singer-songwriter & multi-instrumentalist Josh Rosenblum remains one of the most criminally underrated artists of our time.
His latest album, Love Letter, is yet another testament to his honed ability to echo the old soul of pop, rock, and blues in a way that greets you with familiarity and accommodates you with melodiously reimagined cross-generational sensibilities to prove that there’s no such thing as a sonic bygone era. The door is always left open by artists masterful enough to reignite the same spark ignited by artists whose entry into the hall of fame will never be ephemeral.
His ability to rip a blues riff like it’s nobody’s business is one thing. His talent in delivering consolation through his song crafting, which makes the human experience an infinitely less alienating one, is another entirely.
Take the standout single Wandering Heart as the prime example. By encompassing our universal tendency to self-scrutinise until we’re torn up inside and delivering eloquently rhythmic redemption along with the affirmation we all owe ourselves forgiveness, the sanctity which resounds in the rich harmonic vocal timbre meeting the percussive fingerpicked guitar notes is almost ironically unholy.
With lyricism that gets more profound with every repeat listen for the way the metaphors recontextualise the preceding lines to prise more poetry out of the confessionalism and melodies that never lose their timeless beguile, the single deserves to be equally as revered as the hits in John Mayer and Gary Clark Jr’s discography.
In a time when pressure is building around everyone to be the perfect model citizen, Josh Rosenblum debuted an arrestive vignette attesting to the infallibility of us all. Even if you screamed your virtues from the rooftops, it wouldn’t come close to the arrestive credibleness of Wandering Heart.
If you need a pick-me-up following that profound aural experience, tune into the intoxicating zeal of Crazy as Me, which celebrates the celestial experience of falling in love with someone who doesn’t make you want to conceal your idiosyncrasies. The organ-decorated, riff-soaked blues-pop-rock synthesis is a riot of exhilaratingly sweetened romanticism. The euphoria of uninhibited connection and belonging lingers in every sequence of syncopation, crescendo, and soaring vocal note to almost take you as high as the plateau of unconditional love itself.
Stream the latest LP from Josh Rosenblum via Spotify.
Review by Amelia Vandergast