Phosphorescent’s Matthew Houck performed a melancholy solo version of “C’est La Vie No. 2” on Wednesday’s Late Late Show.
The frontman stripped away the ballad’s lush keyboard arrangement, crooning softly over an electric guitar that he strummed with his thumb. The show’s cameras swirled around the stage, capturing the songwriter in dramatic low angles and close-ups.
The intimate staging suited the song’s starkly personal lyrics. “I stood out in the night in an empty field and I called your name,” Houck sang. “I don’t stand out all night in empty fields and call your name no more.”
“C’est La Vie” is the title-track of Phosphorescent’s 2018 LP — his first release in five years, following 2013’s Muchacho. Houck promoted the album in October with a Late Late Show performance of “New Birth in New England.”
Phosphorescent recently wrapped a North American tour, and they currently have three festival dates for this spring and summer: High Water in South Carolina, Shaky Knees in Georgia and Firefly in Deleware.