Forever my friend (Ray Lamontagne) (LP 2970 - 2975)

Ray LaMontagne  Trouble (CD, 14th Floor Records, 2004) ***  

Ray LaMontagne  Till the Sun Turns Black (CD, RCA Records, 2006) ***  

Ray LaMontagne  Gossip in the Grain (CD, RCA Records, 2008) *** 

Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs  God Willing and the Creek Don't Rise (CD, RCA Records, 2010) ****  

Ray LaMontagne  Supernova (CD, RCA Records, 2014) ****  

Ray LaMontagne  Monovision (CD, RCA Records, 2020) *****  

Genre: Americana

Places I remember: First few - Hope and Walding collections, Supernova (Kings Recording Abu Dhabi) and Monovision from Fopp.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: You Can Bring Me Flowers (Till the Sun Turns Black); We'll Make It Through (Monovision)

Gear costume: Sarah (Gossip in the Grain) 

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4 

Active compensatory factors: I've accumulated a lot of Ray's albums. Most came from donations from other collections but I have bought a few too.

Ray LaMontayne is an American singer-songwriter who works in the Americana genre (i.e. a blend of pop, country, and folk). A lot of his debut album, Trouble, reminds me of Ryan Adams - try Hannah on for size. 

Many of the songs share the same kind of mid-pace shuffle which makes it easy to listen to and overall it's an impressive debut. His voice is a real asset!

Second album, Till the Sun Turns Black, is a development musically as strings and a more textured approach dominates, plus Ray's voice is softer, not as sandpapery as the debut. For me the quality control is still a little off but that just may be my preferences are different. My favourite track is the bluesy You Can Bring Me Flowers.

Gossip in the Grain is summed up by that cover image of Ray amid golden natural hues and his eyes closed in contemplation. Sarah is an excellent evocation of the cover images, The music sounds like an outtake from Astral Weeks.

By now, Ethan Johns is a crucial part of the operation. He is again producing (he did the previous two as well) and playing every instrument available it seems - a talented guy. They are obviously sympatico. But wait...

God Willing... is album number four and the first without Ethan Johns. The Pariah Dogs is a band in its own right and they join forces with Ray here. That makes for a unity missing from the previous albums and I like that.

This one is very definitely his truest Americana album thus far. You have to have to hand it to him - each album is distinctly different to the one before.

Supernova is well named - his voice is unrecognisable from earlier and it's like he took acid before the sessions. It's out there! But also brilliant psych-pop.

On Monovision he is like the Jedi master who has conquered and is now the guy!

Every track is effortless brilliance. Again, his voice has developed and he's now in the full bloom of his powers. If he ever tops this album I'd love to hear it!

Where do they all belong? His latest album is apparently like the stripped back Monovision so I'll grab it!