Without raising his voice too much, with poorly concealed melancholy, with soulful lyrics and increasingly elaborate and mature arrangements, Matthew Houch has written an important page in American music of the last twenty years.
After six years of silence, many had lost hope of a new album under the name Phosphorescent, moniker of the musician from Athens. These long gestation periods between one album and another are actually a constant in his most recent production: after five albums recorded over seven years, the pace has decidedly loosened with “Muchacho” released in 2013 and “C’ est La Vie” in 2018.
Twelve’s recent Bandcamp share cover version of songs by Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, Randy Newman and other authors (published monthly in the year 2022) has rekindled interest and anticipated the new album “Revelator”.
Those who know Phosphorescent’s journey know well that lyrics and music have always been an indissoluble pair for him. After the praise of beauty and human extravagance, reflections at the center of the last two albums, the American author now faces his own insecurities.
“Revelator” is the album of disillusionment and suffering, the lyrics are more introspective and lay bare a soul in the throes of pain. Houch puts together songs that are as touching and profound as they are not without a slight disenchantment. The music flows between organs and pedal steel to weave fine harmonic carpets (“Fences”) and bursts of optimism that give memorable melodies (“To Get It Right”).
At the title track is entrusted with the task of synthesizing the joys and sorrows of the album: the melody captures the attention, while Matthew puts in sequence stories of loneliness, defeats and disillusions with an act of renunciation that does not allow for contradiction: “I got tired of the sadness/ I I’m tired of all the craziness/I’m tired of always being tough.”
It’s pleasantly familiar music, that of Phosphorescent. The violin amalgam, slide guitar, bass and drums materializes with measured sweetness between an elegant homage to Paul Simon of “Graceland” (“A Moon Behind The Clouds”) and interesting instrumental intuitions that justify the presence of important names, such as Jim White of Dirty Three and Jack Lawrence of the Raconteurs (“Wide As Heaven”). Even the coldest and most minimal ballads capture that magic that keeps routine away (“All The Same”).
“Revelator” is undoubtedly the least light-hearted album by the American musician: the songs are marked by a sad acceptance of the inevitable (Matthew has recently lost his father) and it is therefore no coincidence that the more gritty and surreal lyrics (” The World Is Ending”) is the work of Australian singer-songwriter Jo Schornikow (Matthew’s partner).
“Revelator” is a record that remains perpetually poised between candor and confusion. A slap in the face of light-heartedness that enhances the most poignant side of the American artist’s poetics, harsh and austere like Lou Reed (“Impossible House”), sumptuous and essential (“A Poem On The Men’s Room Wall”), and is in this more sober and vulnerable melodic composure that encapsulates the charm of Phosphorescent’s return.
04/28/2024
