Phosphorescent
As Phosphorescent, singer/songwriter Mathew Houck crafts ethereal Americana imbued with elements of country and indie rock. He embarked on a slow-burning journey that saw his music rise from dusty homespun albums to critically lauded and internationally recognized songs as he pushed on through the years. Houck wrote songs and toured solo in his early twenties, taking on the Phosphorescent moniker in 2001 and releasing several albums before signing to heavyweight indie label Dead Oceans with the release of 2007's Pride. Relocating from Athens, Georgia to Brooklyn, Houck assembled a cast of various bandmates, touring relentlessly through the 2000s and finding more success with each new album. 2013's Muchacho sold better than anything that came before it in Houck's catalog and included the standout cut "Song for Zula," which appeared in multiple films and television shows across the globe. After starting a family and moving to Nashville, Houck took several years off before re-emerging with 2018's C'est La Vie. Another long gap preceded the release of 2024's Revelator, his first outing for Verve.
Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Mathew Houck was born in 1980 and grew up in Huntsville, Alabama. He moved to Athens, Georgia around the turn of the century and began making music solo under the name Fillup Shack. 2000's self-released Hipolit and a tour of Spain and England would be the only activity as Fillup Shack before Houck took on the Phosphorescent moniker. Early output from the project was at times more drifting and experimental, filtering Houck's plaintive folk and country songwriting through layers of fuzzy production. This style informed 2003 debut album A Hundred Times or More and its 2005 follow-up Aw Come Aw Wry. By this time Houck had left Georgia for Brooklyn, New York. The project reached the next level when Houck signed to Secretly Canadian subsidiary label Dead Oceans. The label started Phosphorescent's run with the release of third album Pride in the fall of 2007. While still touched by the woozy, ungrounded approach of the earlier albums, the songwriting was hookier and more focused, beginning a move away from experimental urges and into more polished material that would continue with subsequent albums. More straightforward indeed, the next offering from Phosphorescent was 2009's To Willie, a collection of sincerely delivered Willie Nelson covers with Houck's wavering voice high and clear in the mix. Fourth album Here's to Taking It Easy arrived the next year and was followed by extensive international touring. In 2013, fifth album Muchacho was released, a hybrid of traditional country influences and a more electronic-leaning take on the experimental textures that defined earlier albums. The album was Phosphorescent's best-received work to date, gaining critical praise across the board, as well as enthusiastic responses from growing numbers of fans. More touring ensued and enough new interest in the group resulted in 2015's expansive live album Live at the Music Hall.
Over a decade of touring and nonstop music making saw Houck slowing down significantly as major life events unfolded over the next few years. He began a relationship with bandmate Jo Schornikow, who had worked with him during the making of Muchacho, and the two moved to Nashville and started a family, having two children in quick succession. During this downtime, Houck wired up his new Nashville dwelling with a recording studio and began a drawn-out writing process for what would become Phosphorescent's sixth album, 2018's C'est La Vie. Recorded over six months in his Nashville studio, 2024's Revelator focused on themes of home, partnership, and family and featured guest spots from Jack Lawrence of the Raconteurs, Jim White of Dirty Three, and Houck's partner Jo Schornikow, who contributed the song "The World Is Ending."
© Fred Thomas /TiVo
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Discography
18 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Muchacho
Alternative & Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 18 Mar 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The BBC Sessions
Alternative & Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 11 Jun 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pride
Alternative & Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 22 Oct 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Here's To Taking It Easy
Alternative & Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 10 May 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Song For Zula (BBC Radio Performance 2013)
Alternative & Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 19 May 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Muchacho De Lujo (Deluxe Edition)
Alternative & Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 18 Mar 2013
Pitchfork: Best New Music16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Live at the Music Hall
Alternative & Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 17 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
To Willie
Alternative & Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 3 Feb 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Song for Zula
Alternative & Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 15 Jan 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Weight of Flight
Folk - Released by Calldown Music on 28 Jan 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Live / Ghost Lights
Alternative & Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 29 Nov 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
New Birth in New England
Alternative & Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 31 Jul 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
C'est La Vie No.2
Alternative & Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 1 Oct 2018
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christmas Down Under
Alternative & Indie - Released by Dead Oceans on 7 Sep 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
You Can Make Me Feel Bad
Alternative & Indie - Released by Yep Roc Records on 25 Nov 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo