“The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights” by Sean Rowe (Fluff & Gravy Records) (AP Photo)

Singer-songwriter Sean Rowe’s thick voice is part of the reason his new album carries weight, but it’s not the only one.

His resonant baritone is matched on “The Darkness Dressed in Colored Lights” with powerful and shapely songs that range from dark to soaring. Taken together, the album builds on the promise of previous work, including “To Leave Something Behind,” a song Rowe stood out for when it was featured in Ben Affleck’s 2016 film, “The Accountant.” .

The new album opens with “What Are We Now”, a sweet but muscular number that Rowe (rhymes with “how”) acknowledges having been influenced by the thrilling urgency of Radiohead‘s flagship album “In Rainbows”, well that it doesn’t look like an imitation. .

Next come two of the album’s best tracks, “To Make It Real”, which starts slowly but climbs to a plaintive plateau, and “Little Death”, which features a piano-based chorus that gives it an air of Party. recalls the early Bruce Springsteen. With lyrics that could pass for a New Years resolution on a fresh start, the song ends with a blossoming of horns that doesn’t call Springsteen’s comparison into question.

On “I Won’t Run,” a touching love song with a deliberate country twist, Rowe added backing vocals from guitarist Courtney Hartman after hearing her hum in the control room. It wasn’t a mistake.

However, the album takes off thanks to Rowe’s voice. Almost a growl at times, it sits somewhere between George Ezra and Richard Thompson, with perhaps a hint of Tom Waits.

Ultimately, however, Rowe is unlike anyone else – and that’s what makes it a dynamic new album, and Rowe as a burgeoning artist.