Phosphorescent: C'est La Vie review – an alt-rock original in full command

Dead OceansThe first words Matthew Houck sings on the seventh Phosphorescent album are “I rode all night,” on top of a chord pattern borrowed from the triumphant sax climax of Thunder Road. Are we in for peak Bossdom here? No: the chords of C’est La Vie No 2 are played on layers of keyboards and acoustic guitar, and there’s no triumphalism. It’s one of a couple of places on C’est La Vie where one is put in mind of another artist trading under a group name who