PHOSPHORESCENTTo Willie
(Dead Oceans)
*** 1/2 (out of 5)
The title and cover art for this new album from Georgia-born, Brooklyn-based alt-country artist Matthew Houck (who records under the nom de disque Phosphorescent) invoke the classic 1977 album To Lefty From Willie, in which Willie Nelson paid tribute to honkytonk legend Lefty Frizzell. That album was a gesture of respect from a chart-topping star, a tip of the hat directed toward a performer whose name had sadly lapsed into obscurity. Now, even 30 years later, Willie Nelson is hardly a name that needs to be reintroduced to the record-buying public — but To Willie is still an excellent reminder of the down-to-earth humanity of Nelson’s music and his ability to evoke a world of regretful heartache in just a few well-chosen phrases.
Houck’s album recognizes that heartache is never singular in Nelson’s world: the plural noun in the title of “Heartaches of a Fool” is no accident. In Nelson’s songs, when you break up with the person you love, you don’t just feel lonely; you’re “Permanently Lonely.” Even in a semi-comic song like “The Last Thing I Needed (First Thing This Morning),” Nelson springs a depressing surprise on you in the second verse, when he reveals that his girlfriend didn’t just leave him; she left him a few days before Christmas.
I don’t know if someone will be recording a Phosphorescent tribute LP 30 years from now — although 2007’s Pride is a damn good album — but I can certainly imagine having a bad day in 2039, pouring myself a drink, and using the sounds of To Willie to console myself in my misery.
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