C’est La Vie

Album review

In 2013 Matthew Houck relied on the earthly charm of country folk to show us his vision of the great feeling of love on his album Muchacho. Since then many things have changed, especially after meeting composer and multi-instrumentalist Jo Schornikow. A wedding and two children later, the family has left New York for the home of the Grand Ole Opry: Nashville. Despite Houck’s growing prominence, he’d started becoming completely exhausted by the end of tours and simply couldn’t endure this frantic pace of life anymore. Following a well-deserved five-year paternity leave, and the creation of his own studio under the name Spirit Sound, he can finally get back to business with his seventh album and get his name, Phosphorescent, back out there. With C’est la vie, Houck stays faithful to the Dead Oceans label but presents himself in a new light. A healthier, more balanced man, who thinks straight and is in tune with his parental responsibilities.

This didn’t stop stop Phosphorescent from working on a very solitary and intimate production. With an almost-eighties ballad C'est La Vie No.2, he sounds a touch melancholic, but more than anything, he seems relieved to have all of his old pressures off his shoulders. This new state of mind allows him to perform a style of pop country (New Birth in New England) filled with imagery and metaphors. With a soft and slightly nasal voice that could put a newborn baby to sleep and the atmospheric variations created by the electric sounds of his guitar, Phosphorescent delves into an almost fantastical and illusive style of music. Opened and closed with two complementary instrumental tracks (Black Moon / Silver Waves and Black Waves / Silver Moon), C’est la vie is a album that focuses on the ups and downs of daily life to bring out all of its lyricism. © Clara Bismuth/Qobuz