Phosphorescent
Muchacho
Dead Oceans
Street: 03.19
Phosphorescent = Band of Horses + Bon Iver + Dire Straits 
Phosphorescent’s latest album, Muchacho, is laden with lazy, whining steel guitar, strolling piano, trumpet pieces, string sets and lyrics about the trials and tribulations of love. The instrumental work on this album is where Matthew Houck really flexes his songwriter muscle. The mix of country twang and haunting ambience creates a chilling sound that makes more of a statement than the vocal work. Houck really does have a way with words, but his delivery just isn’t right. With too much reverb on his voice, his powerful words are lost in their own echoes and become peripheral, which is a damn shame, because his actual lyrics are beautiful. Check out the track “The Quotidian Beasts”—it’s a prime representation of the album as a whole. –Carl Acheson