Mathew Houck, better known as Phosphorescent, played a solo show at Exit/In last Thursday as part of the Red Bull Sound Select evening. Despite the missing full band, the show was not lacking in richness of sound. Houck found ways to loop music, recording multiple layers of his vocals on stage in order to create an impressively lavish and experimental sound.
Houck exposed a certain emotional nakedness on stage, his songs revealing feelings of distrust, brokenness, hurt, stubbornness, pride and regret – heartbreak so deep you can feel it in the depths of your soul. His melancholic yet honest lyrics lend his music a sort of sensuality, triggering empathy in the listener and the desire to help mend that broken soul.
But that’s not to say that Thursday’s show was all sad. Phosphorescent played a cover of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down,” stepping down into the audience and slow-dancing his way through the arms of several women as they were singing along in unison.
Houck, who was born in Alabama, announced that Nashville was his home now. We can be proud to call such a uniquely talented musician one of us now. Music City just gained another ace in the deck.
