Matthew Houck is a $6 million man. After five albums of boozy soul?searching and neo?country meandering - including an entire LP of Willie Nelson covers - the man who records under the Phosphorescent moniker has turned himself into something much stronger, faster and better with the release of his new album, "Muchacho." Houck's music has always projected him as a drifter: a tequila?soaked man who has made more mistakes than he cares to remember. Yet with his most recent effort, he's managed to transform this character from a deplorable anti?hero to an endearing wanderer, wise beyond his years.
The diverse palette of sound is the most immediately striking aspect of "Muchacho." Every song glows with warmth, a sentiment that's echoed by Houck's choice to bookend the album with the tracks "Sun, Arise! (An Invocation, An Introduction)" and "Sun Arising (A Koan, An Exit)." On the former, a radiating synth line sets a simple stage for a full choir of Houck's vocals. The layering work sounds celestial; it manages to be more beautiful and vast - but simultaneously subdued - than anything Houck's released before.
Elsewhere, the addition of extra instruments, like the mariachi trumpets of "Down to Go" or the waddling electric bass on "Muchacho's Tune," widens his sonic arsenal without sounding like a contrived artistic departure.
Recording quality is another area in which "Muchacho" exceeds Houck's previous efforts. Past Phosphorescent albums have sounded vintage, but almost unintentionally so. Jangling acoustic guitars and thin percussion sounded warbly and distorted, much to each track's detriment. He has significantly beefed up the production on "Muchacho." Houck, on this album, is finally finding his own with sound engineering - no track is too loud or soft in the mix, and every song rings clear without any muckiness or contortion.
Houck's production prowess isn't the only noticeable shift. Throughout his previous efforts, songs lingered well past their welcome - nine?minute opuses like "Los Angeles" from "Here's to Taking it Easy" (2010) may have been bright ideas initially, but often ended up feeling very boring and very drawn out. Everything is tighter with "Muchacho." The longest track barely grazes the seven?minute mark, but feels shorter because of its multiple movements. Houck's songwriting was always good, but in this album his pacing, too, is impeccable. Despite each track's similarity in sound, never is there a sense of tedium that could arise from the album's monotony or repetition.
Even though it's only the second of ten tracks, "Song for Zula" feels like "Muchacho's" centerpiece. Gentle keyboards shift slowly and heavenly behind a wispy string section and a blissfully bouncing bass. Houck is obviously at his most vulnerable here, singing lyrics about the futility of love that are sometimes veiled and sometimes obvious. While it's clearly supposed to be the most melancholy tune on the LP, there's still something euphoric about it. The track sounds like Houck's strange dream of serenity that juxtaposes the ungovernable turmoil of "Muchacho's" other tracks. Though it was technically released as a single in the middle of last December, it already deserves a place in the discussion for the best tracks of 2013.
Houck's vocal performance may be the only point of contention with listeners. Though one could argue that his voice's charm comes from the inconsistency of his singing ability, there are times on "Muchacho" when a missed note diminishes a potentially incredible moment. Still, on songs like "Terror in the Canyons (Wounded Master)" and "The Quotidian Beasts," Houck hits a couple of impressively high pitches that essentially redeem any other gems that could've been on the album.
To use two recent records as points of reference, "Muchacho" sounds a little bit like the beautiful baby of Bill Callahan's "Apocalypse" and Bon Iver's self?titled LP. It's rooted in country, for sure, but there are digressions of grandeur - lyrically and instrumentally - that help escape any of the hinky?dinky tropes that have come to define the genre as of late. Houck has finally created his seminal work that shines brighter than most of his contemporaries, and it'll be thrilling to see where he goes from here.
