Revelator

by Phosphorescent

Overview

Matthew Houck's music as Phosphorescent began taking shape in the mid-2000s, moving from freakier folk sounds early on to a more polished country-rock twang and increasingly refined production as his style matured. His eighth album Revelator might be Phosphorescent's most finely crafted effort to date -- it fine-tunes Houck's combination of rusty, wistful songwriting and rich instrumentation. It's the product of years of exploration and work toward exactly such an album, with Houck's career going from lots of touring and constant activity to a quieter, slower life. Revelator comes six years after its 2018 predecessor, C'est La Vie, and like that album, it was carefully put together in Houck's home studio. Contributions from bassist Jack Lawrence, drummer Jim White, and vocalist Jo Schornikow mesh with mellow strings, steel guitar touches, and on tracks like the dreamy "Wide as Heaven," some of the atmospheric sounds that defined the project's earliest days can be heard. Houck's gift for catchy, lyrical melodies is still intact throughout the album, in particular on the title track that begins the record, and on the mid-period Dylan-esque closer "To Get It Right." These songs take their time establishing simple but slowly built structures, sinking their hooks in as they ramp up. "Impossible House" has echoes of the rolling, wistful grandeur of "Song for Zula," a standout from Phosphorescent's 2013 album Muchacho, and one of the project's best known tracks. There's also a little bit of the laid-back Jimmy Buffet influence that showed up on certain C'est La Vie songs, in particular on the island-evoking bounce of "A Moon Behind the Clouds." While Houck doesn't break much new ground on Revelator, he turns in another solid installment of the Phosphorescent story, one that's a few degrees warmer, a few shades gentler, and a little bit more comfortable than the last. ~ Fred Thomas

Product Details

Release Date:	04/05/2024
Label:	Verve
UPC:	0602458503760
Rank:	40456

Tracks

1. Revelator
2. The World Is Ending
3. Fences
4. Impossible House
5. Wide As Heaven
6. A Moon Behind The Clouds
7. All The Same
8. A Poem On The Men's Room Wall
9. To Get It Right

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Phosphorescent   Primary Artist
Noah Denney   Percussion,Glockenspiel,Lyra,Drums
Jim White   Drums
Dominic Billett   Drums
Bobby Hawk   Strings
Jo Schornikow   Organ,Accordion,Wurlitzer,Synthesizer
Jack Lawrence   Bass,Theremin,Synthesizer Bass,Analogue Synthesizer
Matthew Houck   Piano,Guitar,Voices,Percussion,Synthesizer,Synthesizer Strings
William Tyler   Guitar
Scott Stapleton   Piano,Wurlitzer,Synthesizer
Ethan Ballinger   Guitar
Ricky Ray Jackson   Guitar,Pedal Steel

Technical Credits

Mike Fahey   Mixing,Engineer,Recording
Dave Cerminara   Mixing,Mixing Engineer
Jo Schornikow   Composer
Jd Tiner   Assistant Engineer
Herb Roe   Paintings
Richard Dodd   Mastering
Matthew Houck   Composer,Producer
Clint Welander   Assistant