Josh Rouse doesn't much care whom you compare him to. His genial fixation on smooth, catchy melodies, clever wordplay, and '70s-style production values ensures the names James Taylor and America will come up when descriptions are needed–although, if anything, his recent songs are closer to disco-era sophisticates like Marc Jordan and Stephen Bishop, albeit with less earthier twists.

"I don't mind the term soft rock," the singer-songwriter admits, calling from Brooklyn, New York. "That's pretty much what it is. It's easy listening, in a way. That's become kind of an ugly term, but it is associated with some pretty great songs, too. I mean, it's a little edgier than Michael Bolton, I hope."

In a weird, square-to-be-hip way, such reverse contrariness fits with Rouse's reputation as a roots-rocker who has worked hard to find an individual voice in the alternative wilderness. Raised a military brat in Nebraska, he spent musical time within the Austin city limits before moving to Nashville to explore some very uncountry sounds for the Rykodisc label. A small breakthrough came through songs and videos from 1972, named for the year he was born and the heyday of the Fender Rhodes piano and wah-wah guitars.

"That period had a warm sound, not abrasive, and that's something that feels good and sounds good to me. People will call it whatever they want. But I am trying to make timeless-sounding records. I grew up with all kinds of music, but what connects the best stuff is that little light that goes on in your head that says, 'Man, this is timeless.'"

The soft-voiced singer's polished new album, Country Mouse, City House, features titles like "Hollywood Bass Player", "Italian Dry Ice", and "London Bridges" but it was recorded in rural Spain, at a studio belonging to pal Paco Loco, who also plays a mean Moog synthesizer. "He's got a lot of nice old equipment. You stay there at a nice guesthouse, and his wife cooks really well," Rouse explains.

There Rouse also made last year's Subtitulo, also released on his own Bedroom Classics label, and distributed by Vancouver's Nettwerk Records. The international connection goes further: earlier this year, he released a duet EP with his Iberian girlfriend, Paz Suay, boasting the straightforward title She's Spanish, I'm American, and Rouse, who speaks Spanish, is now living part-time in Valencia.

At the start of 2007, he also embarked on a big-hall tour, opening for left-of-centre popster John Mayer. This year's end finds him headlining small clubs here and then through Europe. His touring quartet will offer a tuneful alternative at the Plaza on Monday night to "the screaming girls across the street", at the Commodore's Paolo Nutini show. "It's okay," Rouse adds wryly. "The guys'll be at my show."

Just don't tell 'em they'll be listening to soft rock.

Josh Rouse plays the Plaza on Monday (September 24).