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C'est La Vie
by
C'est La Vie Image
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 9 Ratings

  • Summary: The seventh full-length studio release for the Alabama-born singer-songwriter was recorded in Nashville and self-produced.
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. Uncut
    Oct 1, 2018
    90
    ["Around The Horn"] inflates over a final few minutes into something uniquely epic. ... Lyrically, it's pretty baffling where "These Rocks," one of the albums' standout tracks, is the most openly confessional song Houck has written, set to a churchy musical swell, congregational and healing, the sound of a lifetime burden lifted by love. [Nov 2018, p.28]
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  2. Paste Magazine
    Oct 9, 2018
    82
    This is still Phosphorescent. It’s just that the man behind the wheel is older and a little bit wiser these days. C’est La Vie is bookended by instrumental tracks. ... In between, Houck’s songs are are consistently wide-eyed and wondrous.
  3. Q Magazine
    Oct 1, 2018
    80
    The result is his slickest and best-produced record yet: all warm beats, electric piano and weeping, reverb-y pedal steel. [Nov 2018, p.113]
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  4. Exclaim
    Oct 4, 2018
    80
    What makes this nine-track/45-minute LP so fascinating is just how many ideas Houck injects into it, throwing layers of piano, wordless backing vocals and ambient effects into the mix.
  5. The 405
    Oct 8, 2018
    80
    Rather than being a tearjerker, C'est la Vie instead serves as something of a safeguard, a protective companion, a generous friend down paths of memory we may never have intended to traverse again, and that we'd shudder to travel alone. Phosphorescent's music is as giving and truly kind as ever.
  6. AllMusic
    Oct 4, 2018
    70
    At first this can feel less immediate than previous work, but much like Phosphorescent's winding journey, C'est La Vie burns slowly and leaves impressions both spiritual and sonic that merit repeat listens.
  7. Consequence
    Oct 8, 2018
    58
    C’est La Vie has moments of real beauty and depth while reflecting on fatherhood and settling down. But Houck should keep pushing into the strange, uncomfortable places where his best music gets made; now’s not the time to shrug it off.

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User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. MrHonesty
    Oct 6, 2018
    9
    Phosphorescent succeeds to deliver another album of the same quality as his predecessor Muchacho. The album starts and ends with a beautifulPhosphorescent succeeds to deliver another album of the same quality as his predecessor Muchacho. The album starts and ends with a beautiful instrumental song, and between them are songs which gives a feeling of acceptance of life, as in the song `These Rocks': ``These rocks, they are heavy. I guess I wouldn't have it any other way.'' Altogether a fantastic album, which deserves the same amount of praise as his previous album.… Expand
  2. Lajaleaa
    Dec 2, 2018
    7
    ( 78/100 )

    Éste vaquero llamado Mathew Houck nació en 1980 y creció en Huntsville, Alabama, pero fue en Athens, Georgia, cerca de los    ( 78/100 )

    Éste vaquero llamado Mathew Houck nació en 1980 y creció en Huntsville, Alabama, pero fue en Athens, Georgia, cerca de los 2000's en donde comenzó su carrera como músico. A Houck se le conoce por ser una alma joven cuyo Rock semi Indie pero muy Country y Folk integral es enérgico. Esa energía no se expresa con música up-beat sino con su capacidad de realizar una exploración extensa en cada uno de sus tracks. En "C'est La Vie" lo demuestra con 8 tracks que duran lo suficiente como para conocer a su autor, entender y empatizar con cada una de las sensaciones que propone. Producido totalmente por él mismo, la música tiene éxito en generar un ensayo completo del tema y sensación que propone en cada track. Sin embargo, a veces ese ensayo cae en una redundancia interna que puede ser tomada fácilmente con aburrimiento o monotonía, pero otras veces esa redundancia tiene suficiente poder y energía como para mantener la atención de su espectador, pues la música es agradable y encasilla en ese Rock casi Psicodelic que suaviza las orillas de las tensiones cotidianas y permite un viaje terapéutico de coros y arreglos hipnóticos.
    En éste álbum, Phosphorescent nos presenta varias experiencias con relatos melancólicos que buscan concluir de forma positiva y con sus respectivas lecciones. Por lo tanto habla del desamor y esa persona a la que extraña pero ya no lastima; la necesidad de pertenecer y formar una familia en contra de la necesidad de estar solo y conocer gente; la falta de motivación contra la que lucha, el querer actuar sin errar, el amor por su hijo y la triste presencia del alcohol. También le otorga una mítica a la felicidad solitaria en la Houck se presenta como un soñador, uno que se esfuerza por construir fantasías y alegorías que lo ayuden a entenderse y expresarse a sí mismo. Houck es un vaquero casi espacial que tiene la habilidad de tomar un sentimiento y hacer de ello, un gran paseo.    … Expand

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