Phosphorescent
Revealing
Oestrus
08 April 2024
Web Exclusive
On Matthew Houck's first original album in six years, he moves away from 2018's glittery, silver jingles That's life. Stripped down both musically and melodically, Houck delivers a record full of angst and comfort in his shared grief.
The opening, self-titled track reassures us that Houck hasn't completely abandoned melody in favor of misery. As a pedal steel wails for a soft shoe shuffle, he can't resist crafting catchy lines like “I don't even like what I'm writing / I don't even like what I like anymore” in a persistent, memorable style.
Thematically, nothing is neat and tidy here, but Hook carves couplets out of chaos, as in “Fences,” a dissection of the relationship that sees him in detail, “The stars were out shining, but you were gone / I saw it the way you tied your shoe.”
Limitation is key Revealingas evidenced on 'Impossible House', which opens briefly into orchestral wonder before receding back into sleepy, graceful simplicity.
The measured tempo, interrupted only briefly by the sweet violin fantasy of “A Moon Behind the Clouds”, will disappoint some, and the length of songs such as “Wide As Heaven”, an end-of-the-world slowdance, could be described as indulgent —but it's ultimately an album to slide into, all cute and sleepy, with Houck leading the listener into rocky lyrical terrain with a plaintive and simple musical refrain.
Houck looks outward, away from the deeply personal, in “The World Is Ending,” written by Houck's collaborator Jo Schornikow, an elegant assessment of the end times we seem to be living in: “Until they send some scientist to come prove me wrong / I know the world is ending'.
Similarly, a broader view takes the delicious 'A Poem on the Men's Room Wall', which features the album's cleverest, most philosophical lyrics, declaring 'Hidden lies and alibi… Open skies and dark eyes' as 'all the same' in a stoic, almost enchanting chant. Here the drums burst into life, moving from keeping time to beating it, and it's a delightfully dynamic moment.
The optimism hits right at the bell on closer “To Get It Right,” with ironic lines like “Fear is the mind killer / Beer is the fear killer / This beer is killer,” as Houck lifts the veil of melancholy to reveal a kind face.
Revealing it's a careful but honest album, a lingering, weary sojourn that offers strange solace even as his world falls apart. (www.phosphorescentmusic.com)
Author Rating: 7.5/10
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