ALBUM REVIEW: Ray LaMontagne Sounds Content in His Journey to ‘Long Way Home’

When Ray LaMontagne debuted two decades ago, his weathered tenor sounded otherworldly. Its power seemed unlikely from such a shy, subdued performer. Now entrenched in middle age, the New England singer-songwriter’s instrument is no less sonorous or wondrous. He has just grown into it. LaMontagne sounds more comfortable, and contented, than ever on his ninth studio album, Long Way Home.

From 2004’s Trouble forward, LaMontagne’s sound has evolved with each album. By the mid- to late-2010s he was experimenting with psychedelia and Pink Floyd-styled meditations. Long Way Home, the first release on the artist’s Liula Records, is more in line with his previous effort, 2020’s stripped-back Monovision.

Ray LaMontagne (photo by Brian Stowell)

Produced by LaMontagne and Seth Kauffman (Angel Olsen, Lana Del Rey), Long Way Home was recorded in LaMontagne’s home studio with a few trusted collaborators, including Laura Rogers and Lydia Slagle ­­— aka The Secret Sisters — and Carl Broemel of My Morning Jacket.

A constant on LaMontagne’s path to becoming a Grammy Award winner with a devoted audience and critical acclaim to match has been his evocation of ’70s singer-songwriters. Their influence is apparent on Long Way Home. When the horns kick in on “My Lady Fair,” it’s easy to imagine it as an outtake from Van Morrison’s Moondance. “And They Called Her California,” with its harmonica intro, might be at home on Neil Young’s Harvest (or Harvest Moon).

A persona that occasionally appears in LaMontagne’s work is the Memphis soul man, who makes his mighty presence felt on the opening track, “Step Into Your Power.” The self-empowerment message, with its Stax-style staccato guitar and the Secret Sisters’ backing vocals, could have been delivered by the Staple Singers in the ’70s (or by Mavis Staples today).

Though he has stated that these songs are about honoring his journey, trying to parse autobiography from an artist as reticent and reclusive as LaMontagne can be a vain pursuit. No matter: These songs are thoroughly enjoyable in a universal sense.

“Step Into Your Power” could be addressing his children, his younger self, or each of us when LaMontagne sings, “All you need / You already own / It was given to you / On the day that you were born.”

The title track evokes a languorous summer day, or a lifetime, spent with a companion. In any event, the metaphorical seasons eventually come calling. “Winter come to us all my friend,” LaMontagne sings. “Just as every childhood has an end.”

It seems safe to take LaMontagne literally on “I Wouldn’t Change a Thing.”  “A lotta times I’ve been hit so hard / It knocked me on the ground,” he sings, with graceful pedal steel from Broemel. “But If I had the chance to turn back time / I can tell you this, my friend / I’d do it all over again.”

One downside: The album feels slight at nine tracks and just over 31 minutes. Like life itself, it goes by much too fast.

Ray LaMontagne’s Long Way Home is out Aug. 16 on Liula Records.