★★★★★
?????????? "You can call me a madman/But I'm spoken for", sings Sean Rowe on the title track of his latest record Madman, and immediately we are pulled in by that deep, stirring voice that's unlike anything else. Folk mastermind Rowe is an artist that continues to surprise and intrigue listeners with every new record, and Madman is no exception. It's another brilliant entry into his collection of powerful roots music, and it covers so much new ground that we can be certain Rowe is unstoppable...
- www.glidemagazine.com
2014-09-20
★★★★★
Sean Rowe has a good voice. No, scratch that. Sean Rowe has a great voice. Sean Rowe has the kind of bellowing, resonant timbre that dreams come from. His voice comes not from the lungs or the diaphragm but from deep in the soul and lights up the most primal regions of your brain. It's a voice that can anchor delicate, finger picking and riled up rockers, that can evoke classic R&B and woozy sea shanties in a single bar...
- www.americansongwriter.com
2014-09-10
★★★★★
The prophetic and distinct voice of Sean Rowe returns with , his latest album, and the third to be released on Anti-. This time around, Rowe bares his teeth, shows his heart and scratches out a fantastic collection of songs that are as memorable for their songwriterly focus as they are for his beautiful baritone bellowing. Rowe's authoritative voice is on prominent display throughout , and melds well with a variety of styles and key changes...
- exclaim.ca
2014-09-10
★★★★★
In the world of singer/songwriter baritone voices, such classic rumbling vocalists as Leonard Cohen, Mark Lanegan, Nick Cave and even Tom Waits sound like Minnie Mouse next to Sean Rowe. Only the dude from the Crash Test Dummies comes close. Rowe made a solid first impression with his 2011 debut Magic. A year later his sophomore effort ups the production and backing instrumentation...
- www.americansongwriter.com
2013-04-25
★★★★★
Yes, Sean Rowe once spent a spell living off the land, as a naturalist for nearly a month. Yes, Sean Rowe has an incredibly evocative baritone that slightly recalls each member of songwriting's unholy trinity (Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits) as well as the Man in Black. Yes, his debut record Magic was excellent; and yes, The Salesman and the Shark somehow manages to top it...
- www.popmatters.com
2012-11-28
★★★★★
Look out, folkies, there's a new gravel-voiced troubadour on the scene. The Troy, New York-based Rowe's songs have an edge to them, albeit in an all-too-similar vein. There are flashes of lyrical brilliance--like on "Jonathan," where he channels his inner Leonard Cohen as a witness to deadly car wreck and delves deep into the raw emotion of dealing with tragedy, showing off dark overtones and songwriting chops on this solid, yet unspectacular debut for Anti-.
- filtermagazine.com
2011-05-05
★★★★★
I've been wracking my brain for weeks trying to think of something positive to say about Sean Rowe's Magic, and sadly there is little to be said. Sean has a unique voice in a sort of Editors way, but it really doesn't work alongside his album. Described as an ANTI-Debut (What the hell is that?), his debut album is like watching the film Jason X, slow, torturous and you're left feeling like your soul has been raped by the end...
- www.music-news.com
2011-04-11
★★★★★
Some artists seem to spring up out of the earth fully formed, like mushrooms. Recent Anti- signee and dedicated naturalist Sean Rowe is such a singer/songwriter. With its confident, mature and meditative approach, his debut album belies his newbie status. It was recorded near his native Albany, coincidentally in a building where Rowe's grandfather used to work, and you can hear chairs squeak, instruments shifting and the band whispering to each other between takes...
- nowtoronto.com
2011-04-11
★★★★★
Look out, folkies, there's a new gravel-voiced troubadour on the scene. The Troy, New York-based Rowe's songs have an edge to them, albeit in an all-too-similar vein. There are flashes of lyrical brilliance--like on "Jonathan," where he channels his inner Leonard Cohen as a witness to deadly car wreck and delves deep into the raw emotion of dealing with tragedy, showing off dark overtones and songwriting chops on this solid, yet unspectacular debut for Anti-.
- www.filter-mag.com
2011-04-11
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