Cover albums are a strange beast. They can either be a hit or miss collection of an artist’s favourite songwriters like Patti Smith’s recent Twelve, or an album of different bands paying tribute to one particular musician such as The Late Great Daniel Johnston. Phosphorescent has taken a different angle by releasing To Willie, a collection of lesser known gems from Willie Nelson’s back catalogue.

As Phosphorescent, Matthew Houck has released three previous records with 2007s Pride receiving the most exposure and some deserved critical acclaim. Many who became fans of that record were excited to hear that a new release was imminent yet the news of its content and theme may have disappointed many anticipating a new set of originals. Fear not readers as To Willie is no let down. It provides an interlude between Pride and the followup due in 2009 and is a great album in its own right.

‘Reasons To Quit’ is a rich and softly swinging opener that was originally written by Merle Haggard. It takes the bragging tone of Haggard and Nelson’s version and turns it into a lament of disappointment and regret at not kicking those habits and addictions. The pedal steel and piano in particular cradle the weary voice of Houck as he sings “So we keep smokin and we keep drinkin / Havin fun and never thinkin’ “. They are words sung with one bleary eye on self destruction and the other looking back at what might have been.

‘Walkin’’ is a fine example of the often made comparison between Phosphorescent’s voice and that of Will Oldham’s. There is an uncanny similarity in the way he inflects his words with that lonely country warble and the wavering notes of fragility that sound like they are just hanging on by a well worn thread. He brings the emotion to the surface of his songs so  powerfully that it quickly becomes clear there is room for both of these bearded singers.

‘I Gotta Get Drunk’ is another track that in its original form is an upbeat pure country song.  Here Houk recreates it with a rolling Dylan feel circa ‘Highway 61 Revisited’, complete with shuffling drums and wheezing harmonica. Rather than sounding like a pastiche it comes across as a well constructed and very clever reworking of both song and style.

Ethereal floating harmonies in the mould of Bon Iver feature on ‘Can I Sleep In Your Arms’. Houck multitracked his own voice to create a haunting hymn with sparse shackle-like percussion and a solitary distant guitar drifting in and out of the ether.

It is clear that Phosphorescent is drawn to the songs of Nelson that centre around the downbeat and downtrodden, the forlorn and melancholic stories of despair, loneliness and heartache. He wraps them all up in an aching sense of resignation that is enhanced by his choice of instrumentation. The breathing space he allows the songs is a critical ingredient in the heavy weight of emotion they contain. Nothing is rushed as they drift on at their own pace like a canoe heading slowly into fog.

The album concludes with ‘The Party Is Over’, Nelson’s tribute to the end of a night spent celebrating. The playful vein of dark humour running through it lightens but never masks the sadness the song contains. The theme of perpetual motion in terms of life keeping on keeping on is summed up perfectly in the lines “Let’s call it a night, the party’s over / And tomorrow starts the same old thing again”.

Phosphorescent has set a new precedent for cover albums with this record. Its thematic song selection and the obvious heartfelt tribute with which Houck put the project together is the masterstroke behind its beauty. He has cast a new sepia toned light on songs written  or made famous by Nelson that will lead many to dig deeper into the country music stalwart’s catalogue.