Phosphorescent is the sometime band, sometime alter ego of Brooklyn resident Matthew Houck who first burst onto the scene way back in 2003 with his debut A Hundred Times Or More.
Now less than a decade later and having expanded both his band and the scope of his sound, he has just released his fifth album Here’s To Taking It Easy.
Within an instant of playing the first track you realise that something very special and quintessentially classic is going on with his mesmerisingly soulful take on classic American music, Houck is the true heir to the throne of Bobby Charles or Wilco. This album manages to refine all their blues and country flourishes that were present in their last album into a sharp focus which hails back to the rawness of an early ’70s Bob Dylan, most present in their opening track It’s hard to be humble (When you’re from Alabama).
Already being hailed by the likes of Pitchfork and Uncut, this is American Indie roots rock at its very, very best. Not since Bon Iver’s debut will you have come across an album of such bruised beauty as this.