Here's to Taking It Easy

Just 20 seconds into the new Phosphorescent album, you hear something so immediate, so purposeful, so damn infectious, it's clear that something special is underway. 'Here's to Taking It Easy' is the culmination of the past three years: A grand statement, the album Phosphorescent were made to make! 2007's 'Pride' was a deeply personal, haunting record that Phosphorescent's Matthew Houck recorded on his own, playing all of the instruments himself. 2009's 'To Willie' (their tribute to Willie Nelson) featured Houck joined by his bandmates, rambling through the Nelson catalog with fifths of whiskey and undeniable swagger. Recorded in the band's hometown of Brooklyn with outside mixing assistance from Stuart Sikes (White Stripes, Cat Power, Loretta Lynn, the Walkmen), this album breathes with life like nothing Phosphorescent has ever done before. Lead track 'It's Hard to Be Humble (When You're from Alabama)' would sound perfect pumped out of the car stereo with the windows rolled down! "Heaven Sittin' Down" recalls the country rock of to Willie, while the stark album closer, "Los Angeles" sounds as if it was lifted from the grooves of Neil Young's on the Beach. Jam after jam, Here's to Taking It Easy brings everything together for Phosphorescent; a classic that could be from another era, but sounds perfect right here, right now.