MONOVISION
On his 8th studio album, LaMontagne progresses toward endless hope.
Ray LaMontagne returns with Monovision. The albums is LaMotagne’s 8th full length release.
While some may characterize this album as a “return to form” for LaMotagne, I like to think of artists as being on a continuum. I see a lot of artists who try out new sounds as their career develops and this causes irritation for folks who want every song to sound like the one that put the artist on the map.
Ray has certainly made a journey from the Americana, soul rasp of his early days (Trouble) through tender treatments of rust-laden folk (God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise), to his most recent exploration of extended rock jams (Ouroboros). And, while the the current manifestation of his talent on Monovision might seem more like Trouble or Gossip In The Grain, it’s actually more of a distinctive progression.
That progression is most evident in the fact that Mr. LaMontagne produced, engineered, and wrote every track on the album. Plus, he performed… not on A single instrument, but on EVERY single instrument. It is the first time in his career that all of Ray’s (seemingly endless) musical talent has converged into one product. That’s quite a feat.
Each track on the album offers nuanced performances that are full of LaMontagne’s signature husky vocals, infallible production, and an exploration of different instrumentation. Perhaps the track that seems to sum up the overall glow bouncing off this LP is “We’ll Make It Through.” The track sounds like it was written and recorded for this very day and age with a sense of hope for tomorrow.
“Had our share of the pain
Of the clouds, and the rain
Lean on me, and I'll lean on you
And together, we'll get through
We always do
We always do”
Listen to Monovision on Spotify here or purchase the album from iTunes here. Check out the track “We’ll Make It Through” below.