Ray LaMontagne: Till the Sun Turns Black

I seem to talk quite a bit about seasonal albums. Be they Winter albums, or Summer albums, or, in this case, a Fall album.

I'm a fan of LaMontagne's work, which I first became aware of in episodes of Rescue Me. His voice has this deep, soulful pain in it that just draws you in. On his latest effort, he does this even more, with a lot of blues and jazz taking the place of the usual folk and rock.

The first time I listened to the disc, one thing came to mind, over and over again: Van Morrison's Astral Weeks. It's almost uncanny, at points, how much this album either channels, steals, or pays homage to Van's early (and, arguably, best) work.

Key tracks would have to include Be Here Now, Empty, Truly, Madly, Deeply, and the title track, Till the Sun Turns Black.

In the end: This album, much like Astral Weeks, flows amazingly, from start to finish. LaMontagne definitely knew what he was doing when he put this together. If you're looking for a beautiful, low key album to really begin the Fall and slow things down, this is the album for you.

On the web: The Late Greats has Ray's NPR Studio performance in it's entirety. And, if I haven't mentioned it enough, you can find more great tracks at The Hype Machine. Also, there's my review of his Live from Bonaroo 2005 EP.

Technorati Tagged: Ray LaMontagne | Blues | Van Morrison | 2006