Joseph Houck’s sunny, self-assured music receives a glowup on his latest, Haunts & Wants, thanks to the backing of a Memphis-inspired horn band and backing vocals. When we last checked in with Houck, his folk rock-inspired music was confident and brimming with a sense of adventure. Eight years later, that’s as alive as ever, but there’s an added drive to get even deeper to the core of the thing.
At its heart, Haunts & Wants centers the things that leave us restless: our regrets and our drive towards the future. “Next Best Thing” is jaunty, an invitation for a new lover to stay just a little longer — whether or not things work out in the long run. This is our first introduction to the full band Houck has assembled here, and the excitement of hearing Houck unfurl his wings matches that first flush of new love.
On “We’ve Never Met Before” Houck gets funky with a bossa nova-inspired groove, a suave instrumental track that transitions us to the album’s grimmer portion — the “haunts” of the affair. As Haunts & Wants cools to its more introspective moments, Houck’s voice becomes the focal point. There’s an intrinsic warmth to his singing, such that songs like “Empathy” and “Jetsam” are innately optimistic, no matter how forlorn the lyrics are.
Once again, we see Houck as an explorer of the human heart, irrepressibly journeying onwards no matter what lies in his path.
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