Phosphorescent albums
a.k.a. Matthew Houck
Biggest Influences:
Alejandro Escovedo, Steve Earle, Paul Simon, Ricke Lee Jones, Calexico, Willie Nelson
sidenote: before his breakout album in 2013, Houck had several albums released on smaller labels. I hope to review those as well soon.
Albums Chronologically:
2013 – 84% - Muchacho
2018 – 67% - C’est La Vie
2024 – 94% - Revelator
2013
Muchacho– 85%
This album is full good songs, but it is hard to pin them down to a single style. Listed on RateYourMusic.com are the styles Americana, Chamber Pop, and Psychedelic Folk.....and maybe those apply but really to me these are just songs in the singer/songwriter tradition. It sounds like it could be influenced by artists as diverse as Alejandro Escovedo, Steve Earle, Paul Simon, Ricke Lee Jones, but yes basically country-tinged-folk-rock. But what matters is not the style (what exactly is "Americana" anyways?) but the content. And the content is good: the tunes range from Calexico inspired melancholy such as "Terror In the Canyons" and opener/closer “Sun Arise/Arising” (recalling David Crosby’s debut album from 1970) that uses overlapping vocals to reflect the title. There is also upbeat pop fanfare such as the bouncy indie rock of “Ride On/ Right On” (admittedly not my thing), the glorious chorus of "A Charm/A Blade" and the massive hit "Song for Zula" with its cascading violins that manages to suspend its melancholic pathos for over six minutes. For many people, this song alone is worth the price of admission, it’s his biggest hit song to date.
But there is far more to the album than that, as the middle section of the record is extremely powerful, haunting music. What else could one want from a guy pouring his heart out but direct and very quotable lyrics from everyday life troubles? A Lyric Sample from the powerful melody of “Muchacho’s Tune”: "Found some fortune found some fame/ found they cauterized my veins/ I've been fucked up and I've been a fool. But like the shepherd to the lamb like the wave unto the sand/fix myself up come and be with you." “A New Anhedonia” gets by simply being gorgeous, making you jealous you have never thought of these songs made of simple chorus before. “The Quotation Beasts” is a building kind of emotional epic, where Matt Houck releases all his energy over a seven-minute tirade. That’s kind of the thing though, while it doesn’t quite stick the landing with the last couple of songs this album radiates a kind of calm and ethereal everyday quality that is hard to replicate and the combination of old fashioned orchestration and new electronic sounds is thrilling.
Best Tracks: The Quotidian Beats, Terror in the Canyons, Song for Zula
2018
C’est La Vie – 67%
If you thought the sound of Phosphorescent was super laid back and friendly, he seems to have now made an album even more approachable here. Still the songs hold up to his best style and refuse to get into the territory of the Dave Matthews / Jack Johnson crowds, for example the odd instrumental break down in the middle of the crowd friendly “New Birth in New England”. The stories Houck tells are super relatable to a fault, the back n forth narration of album title track “C’est La Vie” and the long psychedelic feel of “Around the Horn “ being th ebest examples. The song lengths are typically long all around here though not many on the second half seem to grab my attention, giving this the feeling of being his Jimmy Buffet album – see “There form Here”. Still, very much worth your time for the converted fan.
Best Songs: Cest La Vie, There from Here
2024
Revelator - 94%
Like all of Matthew Houck’s music, these songs take on a world unique of their own pretty quickly. Phosphorescent songs are like little gems found in the woods under a bush- they feel a natural part of the earth, kind of like a song an animal would sing to you. I’ve heard the album described as more ‘country’ than usual, but I think Phosphorescent defies easy categorization like that. His music seems sort of outside of time, if it is folk or country or something else- it comes from a different angle about it; I can’t see him taking stage at the Country Music Awards or anything. Perhaps the waltzing “All the Same” or the truly time freezing “Wide as Heaven” which floats along so well it’s almost rhythmless, fit best into this old fashioned mode. I wish more country music sounded like the seven minute closer “To Get It Right”, but like the song states, that is very hard to do. A song like “Moon Behind the Clouds”, where does that even come from, I wonder? The music itself so easy to play but so immortal sounding, to me it’s easily another instant classic, laid back rock song.
Revelator is his best album so far, and here Houck and company have created easy tunes to absorb like opening title track “Revelator” in which that tricky solemn opening then blooms like a flower into a mature song of its own. Gordon Lightfoot’s influence seems strong on the patient “Fences”, a ballad that does seem to harness a kind of otherworldly presence. While some songs feature pristine drums (by Noah Denny) and killer arrangements by pedal steel with effects like the louder catchy “Impossible House” )closet to his previous hit song “Song for Zula” made ten years ago) or the punchy folk rock of “The World is Ending” much of the album is a little harder to absorb and a bit quieter. “A Poem on the Men’s Room Wall” seems to recite random poetry that maybe he really did find on a bathroom wall and turn into some sort of new 21st century hymnal; Lyric sample, “Phyllis Diller is a Cop thriller.” It seems like Phosphorescent really actually waited the six years between albums until he had every song like he wanted it, and the album shows this in its pacing, presentation, and majestic radiance like only this band can pull off.
Best Songs: Moon Behind the Clouds, Impossible house, To Get it Right