Review: Phosphorescent's "Muchacho"

Starting and ending with songs full of soothing vocal harmonies and lyrics about sunrise, Phosphorescent’s “Muchacho” is the ideal album to wake up to, listen to its entirety in bed and fall back asleep to.

Frontman Matthew Houck delivers the first half of “Muchacho” with conviction, as his cracking voice brings authenticity to his devastating lyrics of redemption. He also experiments with different styles, such as eclectic indie-rock and country-rock, but his best songs are those that flaunt fewer ties to the latter style.

While the second half of the album isn’t as strong as the first, the only song that fails is waltz “Down To Go.” While the opening and closing tracks concern morning time, “Down To Go” sounds like a song a gloomy cowboy would slur at a karaoke bar in the early morning hours.

Houck brings the album full circle. While it starts with a call for the upcoming day (“Sun, Arise!”), Houck’s “wish” is granted in “Sun’s Arising,” leaving the album on a fittingly harmonious note.