I Stand With My Back to the Wall

Phosphorescent - Reasons To Quit.

I’ve been waiting since November for Dead Oceans to release an mp3 from Phosphorescent’s To Willie, and you always kind of new it was going to be Reasons To Quit. The opening track of the album, it sets the tone for what’s to come, letting you know that Matt chose to cover Willie songs because he saw in Willie a kindred spirit. It’s not all cuts from Stardust, or duets with Julio Iglesias. It’s the dark, dusty drunken Willie Nelson that maybe your grandmother didn’t know about. It’s the heartbroken, back broken, trail weary Willie that hits close to home after you’ve spent the last year on the road shouting your guts out to small crowds. In that context this album makes all the more sense.

And here’s the thing about To Willie — it’s a total grower. Everyone who hears it has the same impression. First they kinda like it but feel it’s frontloaded, or maybe the songs are too samey. Then a week or two later they’ll say that they like it a little better. Then a week or two after that they’ll say it’s the only thing they listen to and it hasn’t left their stereo in days. I’m not sure why this is, but it’s true. The quieter tracks, like Heartaches of a Fool and Permanently Lonely take a little while to get into I suppose. And every time you listen a different track will be your favorite. Maybe today it’s Walkin’, or It’s Not Supposed to Be That Way, with those lovely female harmonies.

Listen, Matt from Phosphorescent has been steadily getting better as the years go on. Last year’s Pride (or was that 2007?) was just a great album, and his performance at sxsw on top of the texas garage when he closed with a Leonard Cohen cover and jumped in the pool was one of my favorite shows of ‘08. So obviously I’m a fan. And To Willie is no different. I don’t see it as a stop gap between albums, it’s an artistic statement all its own.

You can pick up this sweet little slice of musical pie on February 3rd, which isn’t too long to wait.