Phosphorescent

Just twenty seconds into Here’s to Taking It Easy, the new Phosphorescent album, you hear something so immediate, so purposeful, so damn infectious, it’s clear that something special is underway. The first album of original material since 2007’s Pride captures the band moving into a truly extraordinary place. Featuring the current live incarnation of Phosphorescent (Scott Stapleton, piano; Jeff Bailey, bass; Chris Marine, drums; Jesse Anderson Ainslie, guitar; Ricky Ray Jackson, pedal steel), Here’s to Taking It Easy is the new Cosmic American Music. The album breathes with life like nothing Phosphorescent has ever done before. “We’ll Be Here Soon” and “Hej, Me I’m Light” hint at the narcotic haze of Pride, while anthems like “The Mermaid Parade” and “It’s Hard to Be Humble (When You’re From Alabama)” 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.