"He’s been there, he’s lived it and it’s beautiful and haunting at the same time. Magic is quiet, dark beauty with a dash of dirge. When it comes to heartbreak, Sean Rowe performs the soundtrack."
"One listen to his voice shows why he has a buzz around him. Rowe sings in a dark-brewed baritone, deep, rich and sturdy… As the lyrics speak of leaving the skin and becoming the spirit, the music evaporates into a mist. But no matter how remote and spare it seems, in Rowe’s hands it all feels close and full."
"Magic is Sean Rowe’s debut platter for Anti, and it packs one soulful and powerful wallop. Each song is a hard-won victory; battered, bruised but not yet defeated. It’s nearly impossible to hear Rowe’s resonant baritone (particularly on numbers like Old Black Dodge) and not immediately be reminded of vintage idiosyncratic Smog or even the threateningly-personal records that Leonard Cohen fashioned early in his career. Songs like American and The Long Haul are like listening to your favorite uncle coming to terms with his shortcomings at the kitchen table after a little too much eggnog. Keep an ear to the ground for this one."
"Now that the Grammys have passed, look for this singer-songwriter to follow in the footsteps of rootsy nominees Ray LaMontagne or Mumford & Sons. Rowe’s record mostly showcases his haunted baritone and gently plucked guitar. Nothing fancy, just quietly soulful song craft in the tradition of Van Morrison that demands an audience around a campfire."
"Sean Rowe’s voice is the sound of timelessness, captured brilliantly by the haunted attic of his grandfather’s Italian Restaurant, where he laid down his soul to tape. Each of the ten tracks that make up Magic, are fueled by a passion very seldom heard, the kind of passion we hold within us and eventually becomes the waking soundtrack to our lives. Rowe is a born storyteller, his rough and tumble vocals will shake you to the depths of your soul., Magic’s nostalgic airs have embraced me and I don’t think I will let go. Ever."
~ Travis Sudweeks, Indierockreviews.com (Source: Indierockreviews.com)
"With a distinct voice, excellent storytelling ability and songs that showcase the writer’s great potential, don’t be surprised to hear a lot more from this New Yorker in 2011 and be transfixed by his Magic."
"Sean Rowe would captivate listeners no matter what he was singing. His deep, rumbling baritone delivers tales of lives held in suspension, people balanced between night and day, darkness and light, life and death. They’re impressionistic snapshots of this world we live in, full of muted joy and sorrow."
"It could easily become the best album of the year and it’s not even close to spring. Rowe’s extraordinary set of songs shows off his truly deep and unique voice — a mix of classic Springsteen, Greg Brown, latter-day Gil Scott-Heron and a sprinkle of Leonard Cohen sensibility and sorrow. It all blends perfectly with the poetry that are his lyrics."
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