Matthew Houck’s latest album, Revelator, marks his first collection of originals in six years, stepping away from the shimmering soundscapes of 2018’s C’est La Vie. In this album, Houck strips back musically and melodically, presenting a work filled with anxiety yet comforting in its shared sorrow. The opening title track reassures listeners that Houck hasn’t completely forsaken melody for melancholy. Accompanied by a mournful steel pedal over a soft shuffle, Houck crafts affecting lines like “I don’t even like what I write / I don’t even like what I like any more,” delivered with an insistent, memorable lilt.
Throughout Revelator, Houck explores themes that are neither neat nor tidy, carving poignant couplets from the chaos. In “Fences,” a relationship dissection, he details, “The stars were out to shine but you were way gone / I saw it in the way you laced your shoe.” The album’s restraint is evident in tracks like “Impossible House,” which briefly opens into orchestral wonder before retreating into graceful simplicity. The measured pace, briefly interrupted by the sweet violin of “A Moon Behind the Clouds,” might frustrate some, but it’s ultimately an album to immerse in, with Houck guiding listeners across rocky lyrical terrain with a sad and simple musical refrain.
Houck broadens his perspective in tracks like “The World Is Ending,” penned by his partner Jo Schornikow. This song elegantly assesses the end times with lines like “Until they send some scientist to come and prove me wrong / I know the world is ending.” Similarly, “A Poem on the Men’s Room Wall” features the most philosophical lyrics on the album, with lines like “Hidden lies and alibis…Open skies and darkened eyes” set against dynamic drumming, making it a standout moment.
Optimism peeks through in the album’s closer, “To Get It Right,” where Houck lifts the veil of melancholy with wry lines such as “Fear is the mind killer / Beer is the fear killer / This beer is killer,” revealing a gentle grin. This character study of a weary soul, resilient against the odds, culminates in a crescendo of pianos, drums, and synths, with Houck declaring, “To get it right is hard to do / We get it right, it’s what we do.”
Revelator is a careful but honest album, lingering and languorous, offering strange solace even as its world falls apart. Houck’s work endures by operating within time-honored alt-country and rock traditions, pairing lush soundscapes with laments about feeling out of touch, creating a refined yet deeply resonant body of work. – Jason Felton