When Bon Iver first appeared, he scored a nickname ‘dark version of Ray Lamontagne’. Meanwhile, Ray Lamontagne, the introverted musician with bohemian guise, had progressed and perfected his unique style based on mixing various genres. In my opinion, Bon Iver does not resemble Ray LaMontagne anymore because Bon Iver does not entice as much as the latter.
Combining diversity is never aggressive or technical in LaMontagne’s music, rather spontaneous. His whispery voice and production by Jim James from My Morning Jacket sooth the sonic amalgam. The producer’s hallmark is greatly felt in songs Hey, No Pressure and The Changing Man, while slower numbers such as Wouldn’t It Make A Lovely Photograph and In My Own Way display the influence of older masters. This is particularly notable in In My Own, where you can clearly hear the echo of Pink Floyd from Dark Side Of The Moon era.
The rest of the album is unequivocally good, almost without any bad moments. Homecoming might be my favorite. Ouroboros is atypical, dolorous song that reminded me of the early phases of hippie movement led by Donovan and King Crimson.Younger generations are probably going to notice similarities between LaMontagne’s interpretation and the vocal of Sam Beam from the band Iron & Wine. Albeit it seems like there are a lot of comparisons, we are dealing with idosyncratic artist here.
So, instead of comparing this musician from New Hampshire with other artists, I highly recommend to put Ouroboros in your playlist and let this trippy album take you to the new dimension of consciousness. It’s a record that has a power to transcend from auditive to spiritual. Great job, mister LaMontagne!
