00-ray_lamontagne-trouble-ego.nfo
01 Trouble 6:21
02 Shelter 7:00
03 Hold You In My Arms 7:54
04 Narrow Escape 6:54
05 Burn 3:04
06 Forever My Friend 9:17
07 Hannah 8:47
08 How Come 7:33
09 Jolene 6:05
10 All The Wild Horses 3:32
IF THEY GAVE A GRAMMY for the year's ballsiest promotinal
pitch, this would win: "I promise you, you are lucky to be
receiving the enclosed CD." Lucky is having my shitty Ford
Contour start in the morning. Lucky is an ex-girlfriend that
uses password as the password for her e-mail. Lucky is found
an unsmoked cirgarette behind the couch. If luck has
anything to do with getting unsolicted CD's in the mail, I'd
be the luckiest man alive. And maybe I am. Ray LaMontagne's
Trouble-the "enclosed CD" in question-is a stunning
introduction to an enourmous talent. I've turned a dozen
people on to it since the day it arrived in my mailbox. Best
of all, it's just one of a bevy of great albums about to hit
record stores.
RAY LAMONTAGNE, Trouble (RCA): Ray LaMontagne has Adrien
Brody's nose, Fidel Castro's beard, and a voice that
carriesthe solemnity of a man with hellhounds on his trail.
His songs are grand mansions built on crumbling foundations,
haunting tunes that document the prosperity for real love
and deep depression to tap the same tear ducts. His Debut,
Trouble, is populated by the same demons that made so many
people evangelical over Jeff Buckley and Elliot Smith, only
LaMontagne seems poised to touch so many more of us.
He'll be a superstar alright, a call to action for those who
love starbucks and Jack Johnson and for those among us who
wouldn't touch either with a ten-foot pole. The sounds of
Van Morrison and Neil Young are the easiest reference
points, but LaMontagne is as unique as his story: He grew up
off the grid, with his mother sheltering her family in
parked cards and backyard tents, making pit stops in a New
Hampshire chicken coop and a cinder- block shell on a
Tennessee ranch. He eventually left a job at a shoe factory
in Maine to pursue music under the name Raycharles
LaMontagne. Exactly where his songs "Hannah" and "Jolene"
fit into his history isn't clear, but these women are not
chapters in a bigger story-ten tales of self doubt and hard
living set against subtle pop melodies and an elegant
five-piece string section. These songs will be your best
friends. His voice will stop you dead in your tracks. And
this scares the shit out of me, but Trouble is only the
beginning.
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