Sean Rowe Strips Things Down for 'Madman' LP, Shares New Video

BY Alex HudsonPublished Jun 16, 2014

Sean Rowe has been keeping it simple as of late. He's been touring the U.S. and performing intimate house shows, and now he's showcasing a stripped-down sound on his new album. Madman is due out on September 9 through Anti-.

The album was self-produced by Rowe, along with engineer Troy Pohl, with the goal being to pare down the arrangements and focus on his voice and guitar playing. The style was inspired by old blues and soul recordings, with sonic touchstones including R.L. Burnside, John Lee Hooker, Ray Charles and Otis Redding.

"I came to this realization that the songs don't have to be structurally heavy to be intense," he said in a statement. "It's more about the honesty and emotion behind the delivery. A lot of these songs are pretty simple but I was really thoughtful about that, it was intentional. I wanted to go right to the heart."

The results reportedly centre around "hypnotic rhythms, warmly distorted guitars and Rowe's incredible voice recalling a time, real or imagined, when music and people seemed distinctly more connected."

Below watch a tour video for Madman's dusty title track, which was filmed during the aforementioned house show tour.

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