[rating=9.00]
Five years between albums can invite a lot of curiosity, and in the case of Phosphorescent, whose 2013 record Muchacho felt like a tall peak for Matthew Houck as an artist, it has also left a void. His absence has been felt; his distinct voice one that has been missed. In the time since Muchacho, Houck has seen a myriad of significant changes in life, including relocating to Nashville and starting a family. On his new record, C’est La Vie, we get a glimpse into that gap in time when Houck found himself planting new roots. One of the biggest roots to plant was the studio Houck built inside his own. It’s where C’est La Vie was recorded and it is what makes the album feel grounded.
The songs on C’est La Vie have a sense of jubilance and ease. Houck’s arrangements are sunny and big, and feel like an invitation to unleash your inner child and jump around. “New Birth in New England” narrates a meet-cute in a cozy, small-town bar to the album’s biggest foot-stomper. Its celebratory chorus lends itself perfectly to group singalongs at the local watering hole. On “My Beautiful Boy”, it’s as if Houck is floating on air as he tries to find the words to show his love for his son, but ends up finding beauty in the struggle to do so.
On “There From Here”, Houck looks back to move forward, reckoning with where he was at just one year earlier, amazed at how far he’s come. There is a clarity to the songs on C’est La Vie, like he’s letting go of whatever isn’t serving him and nurturing the pieces of his life that do. “If you’da seen me last year/I’d have said, I can’t even see you there from here,” he sings in that gently weathered wail. We get this same sense of unloading on the “These Rocks”, the album’s final sigh, with its twinkling piano notes and weeping steel guitar. It is an embrace of having baggage, even as you’re learning to let it fall away.
If the album’s title track is any indication, Houck has been navigating these changes in his life with grace, despite uncertainty. He sings softly over the song’s hushed, synthy heartbeat, “c’est la vie, she says/but I don’t know what she means.” He’s trying to be present, but isn’t sure he still knows how. He’s trying to grow up, and all he can do is his best, whatever that looks like. There is an exciting buzz in this song, like he’s on the cusp of something, about to take a leap into the unknown. But instead of leaving us feeling anxious for him, it makes us want to jump with him.
