If it weren't for his singing voice, so full of smoke and ether, one would be hard-pressed to believe that Till the Sun Turns Black was made by the same man who recorded Trouble just two years prior to it. Ray LaMontagne takes a brave leap from the rootsy singer/songwriter material of his stellar debut album and goes nearly 180 degrees. Once more collaborating with legendary producer and multi-instrumentalist Ethan Johns, the singer and songwriter turns in a highly textured, atmospheric, and subdued performance on his sophomore effort -- and hell yes that's a good thing. All the grit and earth in LaMontagne's voice on Trouble, and the basic country-folk and even R&B (on the title track) has been swept out the backdoor here. This new set of songs is startling all on its own. The reliance on skeletal yet delicate string arrangements adds so much to the interior nature of these songs. LaMontagne has used the projection in both his lyrics and his voice and turned them inside out. He's slower, more subtle, more restrained in everything he does. His lines are economical, full of space and tension, as if they were being performed in the middle of the night in a room alone. Johns' use of strings and keyboards paints LaMontagne's voice and underscores his sung lines with a drama that reveals itself inside the listener. Whole comparisons to Nick Drake will be forthcoming, no doubt, but it's only really accurate when thinking of Drake in his work with John Cale, who fully and implicitly understood the singer's intent.
Check LaMontagne's opener, "Be Here Now," with the guitar finding its way toward the singer as a quartet of violins, two cellos, and a bowed bass emerge to support his voice in the void of silence Johns creates around it. Johns' piano fills in odd spaces. They don't seem to add up, but they do when LaMontagne's vocal whispers its way forward into that small swell of shadow. Even on tracks like the bluesy "You Can Bring Me Flowers," where a full-blown horn section is used to highlight and extol LaMontagne's tough words; there is more Tim Buckley and Tom Rush here than Redding or Stills, but it's all LaMontagne. The jazzed up flute and funky dobro don't sound like country, but more like country-blues at the Village Vanguard circa 1968. Again, horns come into play on "Gone Away from Me" and let his words spill out, not rattle. The whispering acoustic guitars and strings that usher in the title cut are frames for a voice to fit inside, and LaMontagne's does for a while, he paints himself in and then shatters the frame when the gradually confessed emotion blurs the edges and stress fractures it. These songs are songs no one else can sing. LaMontagne's sense of phrase and rhyme is idiosyncratic and never overbearing, he allows his listeners into his world, slowly, deliberately, until he can no longer bear to keep his observations and nearly overwhelming emotion to himself -- as the strings swell, all he can do is begin to moan, and nearly growl, wordlessly. Till the Sun Turns Black is a giant leap forward for a songwriter who has a lot on offer already. No longer able to be lumped in with the new crop of folk practitioners or the whiny, indie singer/songwriter types who come from disaffected parts of the psyche and disaffect themselves from audiences larger than a few hundred, LaMontagne is a sophisticated pop artist who can find in simple forms something utterly engaging and communicative. This record will not sound dated in 20 years. And indeed it could have been made 20 years ago. There is nothing here that remotely echoes anything his peers might be up to. He's in his own league. One gets the impression that as fine as this music is, he's still feeling his way into it. We can only hope this partnership between LaMontagne and Johns will continue because we will no doubt be surprised at what comes next.
This week's Tuesday Tunes is the sophomore effort of contemporary singer/songwriter Ray LaMontagne.Visit Write State of Mind for a mini-review and sound selections (plus downloads) from his album, Till the Sun Turns Black.
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I first discovered RL a little over 2 years ago, just after the release of his debut album, Trouble. Ironically enough, I had trouble finding the album at first, but once I found it, I couldn't stop playing it (or singing along to it-alone in my car, of course)! His voice, so soothing; his lyrics, haunting...enough to wake the dead and troubled souls; his sound, swaying. Although a majority ...
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who or what the fuck i am.....anymoreand i really don't careShe lifts her skirt up to her kneesWalks through the garden rows with her bare feet, laughingI never learned to count my blessingsI choose instead to dwell in my disastersWalk on down the hillThrough the grass grown tall and brownAnd still it's hard somehow to let go of my painOn past the busted backOf that old and rusted CadillacThat ...
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Lately I've been listening to so much electronica (mostly Fatboy) that I've neglected my softer, melancholy side. That's right, I cut my teeth into musical fascination on old classic crooners like Brian Ferry (Roxy Music), Morrissey (started with the Smiths), Elliot Smith, Robert Smith...too name a few. I really got into electronic music later, in college, then when I got my first mp3 player ...
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Can I stay here with you till the morning?I am so far from home and I feel a little stonedCan I stay here with you till the morning?There's nothing I want more than to wake up on your floorSo lay with me in your thinnest dressFill my heart with each carressBetween your blissful kisses, whisperDarling, is this love?Can I stay here with you, till the day breaks?There's something you should knowI ...
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well,wellMOG has turned me on to so much music my head is spinningRay LaMontagne - Till the Sun Turns Black is tha shit yothanks AMY! if she says its good then you can damn well believe it.this is some music that is touching my SOUL.a rare occurance indeed-ee with todays music.well back to tha tunes store and tag tag tag.will i ever get everything tagged and bagged? not at this rate*LOVE*OOH OH...
More >
who or what the fuck i am.....anymoreand i really don't careShe lifts her skirt up to her kneesWalks through the garden rows with her bare feet, laughingI never learned to count my blessingsI choose instead to dwell in my disastersWalk on down the hillThrough the grass grown tall and brownAnd still it's hard somehow to let go of my painOn past the busted backOf that old and rusted CadillacThat ...
More >
well,wellMOG has turned me on to so much music my head is spinningRay LaMontagne - Till the Sun Turns Black is tha shit yothanks AMY! if she says its good then you can damn well believe it.this is some music that is touching my SOUL.a rare occurance indeed-ee with todays music.well back to tha tunes store and tag tag tag.will i ever get everything tagged and bagged? not at this rate*LOVE*OOH OH...
More >
...cause all I can say is WOW!
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Can I stay here with you till the morning?I am so far from home and I feel a little stonedCan I stay here with you till the morning?There's nothing I want more than to wake up on your floorSo lay with me in your thinnest dressFill my heart with each carressBetween your blissful kisses, whisperDarling, is this love?Can I stay here with you, till the day breaks?There's something you should knowI ...
More >
More >
This week's Tuesday Tunes is the sophomore effort of contemporary singer/songwriter Ray LaMontagne.Visit Write State of Mind for a mini-review and sound selections (plus downloads) from his album, Till the Sun Turns Black.
More >
Lately I've been listening to so much electronica (mostly Fatboy) that I've neglected my softer, melancholy side. That's right, I cut my teeth into musical fascination on old classic crooners like Brian Ferry (Roxy Music), Morrissey (started with the Smiths), Elliot Smith, Robert Smith...too name a few. I really got into electronic music later, in college, then when I got my first mp3 player ...
More >
I first discovered RL a little over 2 years ago, just after the release of his debut album, Trouble. Ironically enough, I had trouble finding the album at first, but once I found it, I couldn't stop playing it (or singing along to it-alone in my car, of course)! His voice, so soothing; his lyrics, haunting...enough to wake the dead and troubled souls; his sound, swaying. Although a majority ...
More >
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 "Till the Sun Turns Black")
