Lost in factory work, Ray LaMontagne’s musical epiphany came at 4am in the summer of 1999 when the radio alarm clock woke him with Stephen Stills’ ‘Tree Top Flyer’. At that moment Ray knew he had to ditch his dead end job, pack up his troubles and devote his life to music. His story either side of this pivotal moment is the classic stuff of Hollywood as Ray went from poor boy to drifter to lauded singer-songwriter.
‘Trouble’ is his first full length showing on record and it’s drawing many comparisons with that other leading light of the alt.Country scene: so we’ll quickly dispense with the obvious. ‘Trouble’ shares Ryan Adams’ producer Ethan Johns and some of the musical cross-references that Adams brought to ‘Heartbreaker’. But no-one is really going to avoid the likes of Bob Dylan when swimming these waters and tracks such as the narrative ‘Narrow Escape’, the stripped ‘Burn’ and the subdued ‘Hannah’ bear testament to his ever-presence.
Beyond that the similarities end because Ray brings a whole new array of musical treats with which to tempt and divert. The most significant and unique wonder is his grazed but sweet soulful voice that soars effortlessly over the whole album. As he repeats the word “Trouble” within the first few seconds you know beyond any doubt that you are listening to something very special and when he exalts “I’ve been saved by a woman” the hairs are standing on the back of the neck; it is the return of Otis Redding.
Ethan Johns is wise to the echoes from the past by giving Ray the space he needs for his voice to work its magic, particularly on ‘Shelter’ when the arrangement recedes as Ray cries out “All of this around us'll fall over”. The strings are also sympathetic to the soul mining, recalling Redding classics from the sixties such as ‘I’ve Been Loving You Too Long’. By the time ‘Hold You In May Arms’ starts you question the logic of calling this music alt.Country but the defiant strumming of the acoustic guitar after Ray sings “I could hold you in my arms” acts as an insistent reminder.
From here on in the styles vary again. The Dylan flourishes we’ve already covered but there are other gems to be discovered. ‘Forever My Friend’ brings the Stephen Stills reference back into view; it’s a beautiful and joyous piece of music – the type of song you instantly skip back to play again - filled with uncertain hope, “I just think if we keep our hearts together / I just think it will build on this love we have for one another / Maybe we can make this last a lifetime”.
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‘How Come’ is an old fashioned rocking protest song with a suitably driving beat, sharp guitar lick and simple but effective lyrics “I said how come / I can't tell the free world / from living hell”. The confessional ‘Jolene’ is the album’s lyrical highpoint, handling with painful honesty the inabilities to fight addictions and the rage within, “A man needs something he can hold onto / A nine pound hammer or a woman like you / Either one of those things will do”. The song is saved from its spiral of despair by the glimmer of hope that Ray’s voice constantly offers: like catching the moon’s bright reflection in the dark puddles of the gutter.
The album closes with ‘All The Wild Horses’, a gentle prayerful lullaby to lay the ghosts to rest and a soft, restful string melody on which to carry the demons away, “As for the clouds / Just let them roll away / Roll away.”
‘Trouble’ is not going to take people aback in the same way that ‘Heartbreaker’ did; Ray is too late in the day to cause those kinds of ripple effects. But in years to come it will be seen as a damn fine debut and, I would wager, one of the albums that people play to demonstrate what all the alt.Country fuss was about in the first place.
Between now and then we have the heightened anticipation of where Ray’s music for the soul and his incredible voice will go next.
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