Dying by sadness would be the most romantic death.
The latest buzz in the tragic singer-songwriter genre from France is ROVER, nom-de-plume of Timothée Régnier. Born in France, but raised around the world like a modern-day nomad, ROVER is a complete identity, a man who lives, breathes and sleeps as a heartbroken wanderer, singing about love, loss, and more loss. “Carry On”, a track from his self-titled debut, instructs you “It rains sunny songs/ honey please don’t sing along.” Picture romantic vagabond Rimbaud with a voice that hearkens back to “Ashes to Ashes” era DAVID BOWIE, mixed with late sixties era style crooning along the lines of folk singers VAN MORRISON and TIM HARDIN. ROVER incorporates synthesizers and contemporary effects fluidly with analog instruments like a harpsichord to bring symphonic music that is thoroughly modern. His singing style begins quietly and swells to an accusatory crescendo in that deep, throaty style of BILL CALLAHAN (SMOG) or RICHARD HAWLEY (PULP). His influences range from THE BEACH BOYS to INTERPOL. Think of what would happen if TOM WAITS and BONNIE PRINCE BILLY collaborated with STEREOLAB, and the whole thing was all produced by Brian Wilson, and you are approaching ROVER’s sound. NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION sat down on a wintry Berlin day to talk to him before his acoustic set at the RAMONES Museum, Mitte. Topics covered include the passage of time, the human condition, and guitar maintenance.
I held your picture in the rain / Expecting you to be the same. (ROVER – “Wedding Bells”)
