Awoken by a radio one morning and Steven Stills chiming 'Tree Top Flyer' proving an epiphany, Ray LaMontagne left behind the dispiriting shoe production line and the depressions that sallied, deciding he was to be a singer-songwriter - hence garnering a passionate word-of-mouth following with his debut 'Trouble'. A man who despite himself has already built up something of a myth, 'Trouble' was released in the U.K. a year after the States thanks to 14th Floor Records and the nouse of MD Christian Tatterfield which was followed by 'Till The Sun Turns Black' hot on its heels as a soft release. And so here is its proper release here in the U.K. and announced with right proper fanfare - ta dar!
It's Ray LaMontagne's voice that carries the weight of the album - like an unconverted Cat Stevens, a gruff Van Morrison, an equally hirsute yet soulful Will Oldman, a restrained Tim Buckley, a Cockered Joe with shades of Otis Redding ie. up there with the big guns, Ray shows versatility in musical styles throughout best described as 'mountain soul' heaped with orchestral accompaniment never too detracting from an underlying spartan simplicity that works once again with the noted producer and musician Ethan Johns.
The eerie soft-strumming opener 'Be Here Now' is no New Age/Buddhist tenet but a song about engagement like a George Harrison homily with strings attached with the lift of an hot air balloon ride, and 'Can I Stay' cuts like a 'Lay Lady Lay' with a tender longing and its need for feminine comforting and succor set to a chamber orchestra lilt, whereas 'Gone Away From Me' sounds like a baptist tune abetted by tuba/trombone and trumpet and a saddened Ray - "...my life is long/ my love has gone away from me...".
'Empty' has the catchment of a true American classic with windscreen panoramic swoops and violin that proves an infectious track like Dylan's 'Black Diamond Bay' with slices of life and poesy - "...of these cut-throat busted sunsets/ these cold and damp wide mornings I have grown weary..." a song that's down at heel and hitting the skids asking - "...must I always feel this way/ so empty/ so estranged...".
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