During the last two years, Canadian artist Joss Ross really boosted his career. Thus I was curious about his 29th March 2024 release, Complicated. Here are my thoughts about his EP release.
Josh Ross – About The Artist
Josh Ross is a Canadian country singer. He was born on 27th May 1996 in Waterdown, Ontario, a borough of Hamilton in the Greater Toronto area. He initially had a promising career as a defensive back in college, but injuries made him focus on his music career. One of his early bands was Silver Lining, before he moved to Nashville. He turned into an independent artist, but signed a record deal in 2022. In the same year, two of his songs, First Taste of Gone and On a Different Night, made it into the Canadian Country Top 5. So far, Josh Ross released two EPs, Do What You Love (2020) and Live Sessions (2022).
Josh Ross – Complicated – Track by Track
The eight song EP lasts 25 minutes.
1. Single Again
The EP opens with one of its four single releases so far, Single Again. The song is a lovely balance of an emotional country song and some rock elements. Overall, this leads to a beautiful, modern country music listen.
2. Tell Me A Lie
After this rather leveled opener, Tell Me A Lie is a country ballad. The slower track is having a beautiful flow. Josh Ross’ warm voice combined with the warm vibes is definitely a heartwarming combination.
Then tell me a lie
Tell me you ain’t as good as gone
Halfway holding on to me
Ease my mind
And Lord knows the whiskey ain’t doing jack
Won’t you tell me that it ain’t quite what it looks like
And it’s not what you think
But I know you and I know I don’t wanna believe that
A-truth in your eyes, I know
So just for tonight
A-tell me a lie
3. Truck Girl
The mood of the second track is a perfect fit to Truck Girl, which has been initially released together with Single Again in January 2024. The track is a breakup song, leading to the final line of the chorus, Then why you getttin’ in his truck, girl?. You definitely feel the struggle and pain about his loss in this song.
4. Complicated
The EP is speeding up for the title track, which is coming with a very present rhythm. A nice song, but I am still emotionalized by the previous songs. Complicated does not touch me as much as these tracks, but it is indeed a nice listen.
5. She Don’t Smoke
She tells you that she loves you
She tells you that she cares
Says she talks to God about you
In her Sunday prayers
Hard not to believe her
But you don’t ever know
‘Cause she’s the kind of girl that tells her mama
That she don’t smoke
The fifth song is a perfect example about Josh Ross’ excellent storytelling. The song is putting its story into a perfect musical mood. I absolutely love listening to this one.
6. Trouble
The 2023 single release Trouble boosted Joss Ross’ career again. The Canadian platinum record has been his first song topping the Canadian charts. How could I argue against this song? Again, Ross is beautifully transforming emotions (Baby, I’m in trouble) into lovely music.
7. Burn Back
Burn Back comes with some catching vibes and a drum programming-alike rhythm. After many comparably slow and emotional listens, this is definitely a nice contrasting listen.
8. Matching Tattoos
If you don’t know the closing track Matching Tattoos yet, the piano tunes at its beginning already tell you that his one is on the ballad range of the genre. However, the song develops some additional energy towards its end. Nice listen, indeed.
Josh Ross – Complicated – Spotify
Here is the EP on Spotify:
Josh Ross – Complicated – My View
Complicated is a very emotional, personal and touching set of eight songs. Josh Ross feels to be a perfect match to these stories. I absolutely loved listening to this artist and his EP.
Favorite Song: She Don’t Smoke
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