Here's To Taking It Easy
Just 20 seconds into the new Phosphorescent album, you hear something so immediate, so purposeful, so damn infectious, it’s clear that something special is underway. The first album of original material since 2007’s 'Pride' captures the band moving into a truly extraordinary place. 'Here's to Taking It Easy' is the culmination of the past three years: a grand statement, the album we dreamed Phosphorescent would make. 'Pride' was a deeply personal, haunting record that Phosphorescent’s Matthew Houck recorded on his own, playing all of the instruments himself. 2009’s 'To Willie' (their tribute to Willie Nelson) featured Houck joined by his bandmates, rambling through the Nelson catalog with fifths of whiskey and undeniable swagger. So if 'Pride' was built for 5AM and 'To Willie' sounded just right as last call approached, where does 'Here’s To Taking It Easy' fit? This is the Phosphorescent record made for any time, any season. Featuring the current live incarnation of Phosphorescent (Scott Stapleton, piano; Jeff Bailey, bass; Chris Marine, drums; Jesse Anderson Ainslie, guitar; Ricky Ray Jackson, pedal steel), 'Here’s to Taking It Easy' is the new Cosmic American Music. Recorded in the band’s hometown of Brooklyn with outside mixing assistance from Stuart Sikes (White Stripes, Cat Power, Loretta Lynn, the Walkmen), this album breathes with life like nothing Phosphorescent has ever done before. “We’ll Be Here Soon” and “Hej, Me I’m Light” hint at the narcotic haze of Pride, while anthems like “The Mermaid Parade” and “It’s Hard to Be Humble (When You’re From Alabama)” sound perfect pumped out of the car stereo with the windows rolled down. “Heaven, Sittin’ Down” recalls the country rock of To Willie, while the stark album closer, “Los Angeles” sounds as if it was lifted from the grooves of Neil Young’s On the Beach. Jam after jam, Here’s to Taking It Easy brings everything together for Phosphorescent; a classic that could be from another era, but sounds perfect right here, right now.
After his Willie Nelson-inspired record, Matthew Houck stays firmly in the world of country music rather than the wilderness folk he'd previously crafted.
It’s been a steady march for Phosphorescent’s Matthew Houck. With each album, he puts another few paces between himself and the bedroom—where his 2007 breakthrough Pride was born—and sidles that much closer to the bright lights of the big stage. At the same time, the Brooklyn-based alt-folk musician seems to be making…
Check out our album review of Artist's Here's To Taking It Easy on Rolling Stone.com.
Matthew Houck may operate out of the too-cool-for-school, New York City indie rock community, but the Alabama-born mastermind behind Phosphorescent has a muse that clearly resides in warmer climates.
There's something sinister underneath the surface, says <strong>Michael Cragg</strong>, but Phosphorescent don't forget to bring hope, too