#21 Ray LaMontagne - 'Gossip In The Grain'

#21
Ray LaMontagne – ‘Gossip In The Grain’
RCA Victor
Released September 30, 2008

Ah Ray LaMontagne..the breathy, raspy voiced crooner that can make the ladies swoon and the dudes..play the music for the ladies to make them swoon.  Or maybe you’re like me and you like Ray’s stuff because it’s great, not because you’re trying to get some hottie naked. Not that there’d be anything wrong with that. Either way, there’s no denying that Ray LaMontagne has some mad skills and his back catalogue of music is something to talk about as ‘Trouble’ is great and ”Til The Sun Turns Black’ is nothing short of outstanding in my opinion. With ‘Gossip’, Ray has turned up the volume a bit, opening up to a much broader sound than the often times myopic, chilled out ‘TTSTB’ and at first that was a bit of a turn-off for me. I was all about the idea of him bringing in an orchestra or whatev on lots of the songs, but I wasn’t all that comfortable with the upbeat sound of tunes like lead single ‘You Are The Best Thing’ which sounds like it’s straight off of some big band backed Ray Charles record or something. But hey, time goes by and things grow on you, and that’s what happened here with me.  While I still feel that this record can’t really hold a candle to ‘TTSTB’, it’s still a great display of songwriting and musicianship and has that one of a kind LaMontagne flair that you’re not really gonna find anywhere else in the music scene today.  It should probably be noted that I saw this guy live a month or 2 ago, and that sort of thing always helps me get more into musicians who release a record I may not be totally sold on beforehand. The bottom line is, despite whatever holdups I may have about him spreading his musical wings and expanding his sound like a peacock puffing out it’s colorful plumage, it’s still the same old Ray under the sparkly newer exterior, and he’s still bringin the heat. The high, stinky limburger.
Standout Songs: ‘Sarah’, ‘A Falling Through’, and ‘Henry Nearly Killed Me (It’s A Shame)”