Song for zula phosphorescent11/10/2022 His life was falling apart, but almost perversely, “songs just started happening, and there were five or six of them.” Houck admits he was “in the middle of a bit of a freak-out,” so in the small hours one Sunday, he booked a ticket to Mexico, on a plane that was leaving three hours later. A domestic crisis meant he had to find another apartment/studio at short notice, in the dead of winter. I was actually considering releasing it under another name.” Exactly as 2012 turned, Houck’s life began to unravel. I was thinking I might make an ambient record that had vocals, but no lyrics. The singer says, “This time, I was getting really excited about the experimental sounds I was making. I’ve always had that element in my work, and one or two weird, ambient pieces seem to squeeze themselves onto every record, but suddenly I was doing a lot of those.” They weren’t songs, they were just strange sound pieces. I wanted to make music,” he explains, “but I was weary, so the spectre of putting anything out and getting back on the road was a bit of a block.” He bought a load of old analog gear and “just starting playing around with it, making these noises. After spending the best part of 18 months touring his last record, Houck was, in his words “pretty fried.” He returned to the Brooklyn Navy Yard studio where he’d recorded his previous two albums, planning “on taking this whole thing down a few notches. It took shape partly as a result of events beyond Houck’s control. Muchacho reprises the understated melancholia and sensuous minimalism of Pride, while kicking up a little of Here’s To Taking It Easy’s dust, but it also strikes out into more adventurous waters via rhythm and electronic textures. Now, his sixth album Muchacho flashes yet another color in the subtly shifting Phosphorescent spectrum. He followed it with To Willie, a tribute to Willie Nelson, then 2010’s Here’s To Taking It Easy, an enthusiastic plunge into country rock and Americana. 2007’s Pride – a delicate and haunting work of ragged country and bittersweet gospel – first caused ears to swivel in Phosphorescent’s direction. Houck has a highly distinctive artistic voice and a refreshing, rolled-sleeves approach to his expression. The Alabama native, now resident in Brooklyn has delivered five albums as Phosphorescent since his 2003 debut.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |