The Weight of Flight

Phosphorescent is the recording project of Athens, GA native Mark Houck, a singer-songwriter with a ragged voice and a penchant for dust-blown Americana, whose debut full-length *A Hundred Times or More*, gained ecstatic praise from the British music press. Houck’s efforts, which recall both the ramshackle aesthetic of latter-day indie acts like Will Oldham and the Silver Jews, and the uncanny immediacy of old-time country (think Dock Boggs and Jimmie Rodgers), certainly deserve such praise, but one can’t blame Houck for being a bit taken aback by breathless panegyrics that saddled him with the title “the next Dylan” within months of his debut’s release. So it’s unsurprising that Houck’s follow up to *A Hundred Times or More* is something of a stylistic left-turn. The six-song EP *The Weight of Flight* sounds remarkably robust in comparison to its somewhat skeletal predecessor. While *A Hundred Times or More* thrived on eerie minimalism, *The Weight of Flight* boasts a full backing band and a number of rocking, organ-led compositions that pave the way for the innovations of 2005’s *Aw Come Aw Wry*.