[T]he album takes flight on the strength of Rowe’s voice. Almost a growl at times, it falls somewhere between George Ezra and Richard Thompson, with maybe a hint of Tom Waits. Ultimately, though, Rowe doesn’t sound like anybody else — and that’s what cinches this as a dynamic new album, and Rowe as an artist on the rise. - The Associated Press
Marvelous - The Boston Globe
Sean Rowe alludes to the duality of the human spirit in all of us...and brings insight when it comes to a broken heart — a theme that resonates for this gifted songwriter - KCRW
With deep vocals and deeper lyrics, singer/songwriter Sean Rowe’s latest album cuts to the core. - The Daily Gazette
Sean Rowe writes vivid, lived-in songs and sings them with a voice that reverberates through your bones. No one sounds like he does, and when you hear the first few notes of a Sean Rowe song, you know you’re about to have your heart ripped out of your chest and unceremoniously handed back to you — in the best way. - No Depression
This is an intensely poignant album with Rowe’s baritone voice so commanding and emotive, it’s impossible not to feel something. - Glide Magazine
Between his earnest rumble of a voice, lyrics so genuine they can’t be fiction and the no frills production, these musical sketches bring us closer to connecting with Sean Rowe from a place total vulnerability. - Holler
A punch to the gut showcase - Americana Highways
Whilst Rowe forages in a literal sense for edible wild food, he also forages as a singer/songwriter, turning his feelings and experiences into a kind of universal nourishment that can be appreciated by all who care enough to listen. - Americana-UK
There’s something about Rowe’s baritone that cuts right to the core, the feeling of heartbreak and reckoning palpable at every turn. - Mother Church Pew
Sean has been foraging around in the space between regret and hope, he’s found enough sustenance to keep him going and to share The Darkness Dressed In [Colored] Lights to a ravenous world. - The Rocking Magpie
The catch cry here could well be – ‘choose your attitude to life’ – and rise from the ashes and denounce despair. All the songs cut to this chase and the record gives us the fullest array of emotions. - Listening Through The Lens
LISTEN: THE DARKNESS DRESSED IN COLORED LIGHTS
Today, internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter Sean Rowe has released his brilliant new LP The Darkness Dressed In Colored Lights, out via Fluff & Gravy Records. Rowe drew on an array of influences—from Radiohead to Waylon Jennings, Kurt Vile to David Lynch—to craft this cinematic new album, one forged in the fires of self-discovery and acceptance.
Through its 11 gut-punching tracks, Rowe tackles everything from losing oneself in the despair of heartache to rising from the ashes—the paradox between what once was and what now is, and sometimes being lost in the in-between. His powerful baritone spans the gamut of emotions—and on this record, he makes it clear that at some point it’s hard not to feel them all at once. Every song cuts right to the quick.
“The songs on this record tell a story of heartbreak purgatory, of knowing intrinsically that it’s too late to save what you’ve got, but trying like hell anyway,” noted No Depression. “The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights is about the chaos that comes when your life is upended, then learning who you are when you emerge on the other side of it. Fleeting affairs (‘Squid Tattoo’), fantasies of what could be (‘I Won’t Run’), foregone conclusions (‘Toast’), and self-destructive patterns (‘Honey in the Morning’) line these textured arrangements of synth, pedal steel, keys and horns. And for all the tragedy residing in these stories, Rowe knows it’s better to feel it all than to go numb.”
The songs evidence a journey and their commonality is clarity—the result of work Rowe’s been doing to build a fitter, happier version of himself. He credits therapy and a guided ayahuasca retreat with helping him to reach this understanding. Over the course of an intense weekend, he had experiences that stripped away his anger and defenses and brought him to a place of intense beauty and peace--he realized we create the heaven and the hell that swirls in our heads, and we have to choose in which of those dimensions we want to reside. This album is ripe with both.
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Rowe has also spent years in the woods exploring, foraging, and obsessively learning all that he could about the natural world around him. Through his web series, Can I Eat This?, he’s found a means of indulging two of his great passions: music and nature. In each of the episodes of Can I Eat This?, Sean goes on a foraging mission for all manner of wild foods and uses the harvest to prepare some tasty creation. To check out Can I Eat This? visit Sean's YouTube Channel
The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights is available on CD and double-vinyl, as well as on all streaming services. Click HERE to order.
TOUR DATES:
10/20: Vienna, VA | Jammin Java
10/24: Norfolk, VA | North Shore Point House Concerts
11/3 & 11/4: Brooklyn, NY | Union Pool
11/5: Kennett Square, PA | Kennett Flash
11/6: Rochester, NY | Abilene
11/19: Northampton, MA | The Parlor Room
11/20: Egremont, MA | Egremont Barn
