Phosphorescent just put out one of the better albums of the year, Muchacho. The normal twangy country sound is still there, but there are sounds on this album you wouldn't normally find on past albums, like the first three songs for example. The first song ("Sun Arise") sounds like an electronic version of the Fleet Foxes song with a similar title, "Sun it Rises".
From there the album goes into "Song for Zula". This is where the sound really changes (in comparison to past albums). This is like no other song Phosphorescent has done. It's a full out electronic ballad about love lost and life and (what would seem like) everything beautiful. It's the strongest song on the album and I love it.
The next song, "Ride On/Ride Out," is a country song in vocals only, the music is full of electric guitars, distortion and all sorts of sounds I'm not qualified to write about it. It's a fun song. I could imagine myself driving through New Mexico with the windows down blasting this song.
The rest of the album is really familiar. There are no electronic noises, no distortion, just good country music. This guy knows how to write a country song. There's real sadness and twang in his voice and real pain, which is something contemporary country music lacks these days. He's not singing about dogs dying, hunting, or trains, but he brings real emotion to his songs much like the greats before him (Willie, Waylon, Merle, Kris).
