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With his signature vocal rasp and soulful folk-rock tendencies, Ray LaMontagne has always been somewhat of a throwback to the days of Van Morrison, Joe Cocker and other late ‘60s folk-rock crooners.
But with his fourth studio album Supernova, the New-Hampshire born singer goes full-blown flower child, comingling psychedelic slow jams, bouncy alt-pop anthems and the occasional quasi classic-rock ditty in an orgiastic blend of retro sound and styling.
Some credit for this change in direction undoubtedly goes to the The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who produced Supernova at his Nashville recording studio. His influence is immediately evident on the dreamy opening track “Lavender,” which disguises LaMontagne’s peppery howl with filters, echoes and an army of backup singers accompanied by sweeping melodies and a hint of synth. Auerbach pushes the singer further on “Julia,” a grinding gem that sounds as if it was rescued from the cutting room floor of a long-lost Who album.
For many this may sound like a tragic musical mistake: Why experiment when the style that brought you fame and fortune could fill at least another four folky soul albums? Why mess with success?
No one knows the answer to this question better than Auerbach, who once upon a time was little more than an amped-up garage guitarist blasting blues covers, and who now fills stadiums with edgy alternative pop-rock as one half of The Black Keys.
The fact is we’ve heard and enjoyed the distinctive LaMontagne sound may times before; but what excites us as fans is to see an artist grow, step out of his or her comfort zone and try something new—which is exactly what we get on Supernova.
