Why I Decree it to Be So:Sometimes, sweet friends, I get a hankering for a good old, tumbling dice, jingle jangle morning kinda record. Something awash with the carefree attitude of a time more innocent and much less frantic than that in which we live today. Something full of deliciously rollicking rhythms, sweetly whispered love songs, and the sound of many instruments melding together to form sonic divinity. As it happens, these days I don't have to put the needle down on Skynyrd or The Band or Leon Russell to get that feeling. Phosphorescent (Brooklyn via Alabama's Matthew Houck with the help of some amigos) creates the warm glow of days gone by on Here's To Taking It Easy with an easy abandon. The album is full of big, beautiful songs bringing together pieces of the aforementioned with a hint of that doomed brilliance of Gram Parsons (minus the doomed thing) for a truly timeless sound. For example, "We'll Be Here Soon" offers up a syrup slow sway, Houck's voice rich and commanding against the tender tones of the glorious instrumentation. "I don't care if you like me," he proclaims in the splendid "I Don't Care if There's Cursing," but maybe that's because he knew all along that it would be impossible not to love this record. Song after song is a triumph, a golden shimmering triumph. A must-have record.
mp3: It's Hard To Be Humble (When You're From Alabama) (Phosphorescent from Here's To Taking It Easy)
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