RAY LAMONTAGNE
''SUPERNOVA''
APRIL 29 2014
42:39
1 /Lavender/4:25
2 /Airwaves4:41
3 /She's the One3:17
4 /Pick Up a Gun5:05
5 /Julia3:21
6 /No Other Way3:37
7 /Supernova3:55
8 /Ojai4:35
9 /Smashing4:40
10 /Drive-In Movies5:03
All Tracks By LaMontagne
Dan Auerbach /Bass (Electric), Clapping, Claves, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Mellotron, Producer, Vocals (Background)
Collin Dupuis /Drum Programming
Seth Kaufman /Clapping, Congas, Drums, Electronic Percussion, Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Electric Baritone), Percussion, Snaps, Vocals (Background)
Ray LaMontagne /Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals
Leon Micheals /Acetate, Cabasa, Clapping, Electric Harpsichord, Glockenspiel, Hammond B3, Mellotron, Percussion, Piano, Piano (Electric), Tambourine, Wurlitzer
Russ Pahl /Bass, Guitar (12 String Acoustic), Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Baritone), Guitar (Electric), Pedal Steel
Dave Roe /Bass (Electric), Bass (Upright)
Richard Swift /Clapping, Drums, Drums (Electric), Percussion, Vocals (Background)
Kenny Vaughan /Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Tambourine
Review
By Thom Jurek
Over four previous albums, singer and songwriter Ray LaMontagne has presented as many different musical portraits of himself. What united those records was the signature world-weariness in his writing and singing -- even in the seeming celebratory roots rock on 2009's God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise. While Supernova, helmed by producer Dan Auerbach, presents yet another aspect of the songwriter's persona, that earthly weightiness all but vanishes. This is simultaneously LaMontagne's most sonically ambitious and purposefully referential offering to date; but the considerable topical and melodic shift in his songwriting dictated it. These songs are brighter, lighter, and musically more labyrinthine despite their ready accessibility. Auerbach's sound and textural palettes are so expansive he seems to have evoked Jack Nitzsche as a muse. He chose the band to orchestrate these songs that draw so heavily from Southern California's psychedelic pop and country-rock of the late 1960s and early '70s. "Lavender" has fat electric guitar chords that give way to a strummed acoustic guitar, Mellotron, and electric harpsichord. The dreamy Eastern feel in the music is held to earth by clipped snares and a lean bassline. But LaMontagne's layered, reverbed vocal and its whispered, percussive, "tchick-ahhh" chorus effects make the song's textures swirl. "Airwaves," in its hepcat acoustic soul and dreamy jazz, is one of several places where LaMontagne acknowledges the influence of early Van Morrison (from Astral Weeks through Moondance). "Pick Up a Gun" is darkly tinged at inception; it recalls Alice Coltrane's modalism with its harp-like Mellotron intro, but breaks into four different segments inside five minutes. It's alternately a sweet country waltz, a progressive folk-rock tune à la Tim Buckley, and a tripped-out pop tune à la Brian Wilson. "Julia" borrows the vamp from Them's "Gloria" but winds it out in grand psych rock style to become something other. The title track initially evokes the spirit of Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" with its minimal acoustic guitar vamp, pulsing organ (that sounds more like a Farfisa than a Hammond), and handclaps, but threads it with a retro-soul bridge and layers of progressive instrumentation, including glockenspiel and Mellotron, which float under a sitar impersonation and reverbed drums. "Ojai" is shimmering country-rock that simultaneously recalls Tim Hardin and John Phillips. The shifting rhythms and textures in "Smashing" are so exquisitely arranged and orchestrated, it feels like a rock suite with the alluring melody of a pop song. Closer "Drive-In Movies" an easy-grooving acoustic rocker with electric and pedal steel guitars holding the center, offers a notion of reminiscence that seems to thematically underscore the entire record. Supernova is unapologetically and indulgently retro; a casual listen might dismiss it as mere nostalgia. But pairing Auerbach's detailed, careful production with LaMontagne's open, expertly crafted songwriting and breezy, sensual, emotionally unburdened signing, that boundary is shattered.
Biography
by Steve Leggett
With a voice that recalls a huskier, sandpapery version of Van Morrison and Tim Buckley, Ray LaMontagne joins such artists as Iron & Wine in creating folk songs that are alternately lush and intimately earthy. The songwriter was born in Nashua, New Hampshire in 1973; his parents split up shortly after his birth, and his mother began a pattern of moving her six children to any locale that could offer her employment and housing. As a result, LaMontagne grew up as the perennial new kid in school (when and if he went to school at all). He did graduate high school, however, and found himself working in a shoe factory in Maine when he heard Stephen Stills' "Tree Top Flyer" on the radio. The song amounted to an epiphany for LaMontagne, who made up his mind on the spot to become a singer and musician. 
By the summer of 1999, LaMontagne had put together a ten-song demo tape that soon found its way into the hands of Jamie Ceretta at Chrysalis Music Publishing. The publishing house signed the young songwriter and teamed him with producer Ethan Johns, resulting in LaMontagne's debut album, Trouble. The record was picked up by RCA and released in the fall of 2004, impressing critics with such songs as the title tune, "Trouble," and the cinematic style of pieces like "Narrow Escape." A follow-up album for the RCA label, Till the Sun Turns Black, appeared in 2006 and widened LaMontagne's palette by incorporating horns and strings. He also placed songs in multiple American television shows, including ER, Bones, and One Tree Hill. Gossip in the Grain followed in 2008, also with Johns in the production chair; his biggest commercial success to that point, it debuted at number three on the American charts and again featured several songs later heard on television shows. 
In 2012, LaMontagne returned with his fourth studio album, God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise. His first album without producer Ethan Johns, the session was produced by LaMontagne at his home studio and was the first with a billing for his backing band the Pariah Dogs, including bassist Jennifer Condos, guitarist Eric Heywood, and drummer Jay Bellerose. It peaked at number three on the American album charts, and earned LaMontagne his first Grammy win, for Best Contemporary Folk Album. 
Early in 2014, RCA announced that LaMontagne's fifth album would be released. Produced by the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, Supernova was issued at the end of April.
''SUPERNOVA''
APRIL 29 2014
42:39
1 /Lavender/4:25
2 /Airwaves4:41
3 /She's the One3:17
4 /Pick Up a Gun5:05
5 /Julia3:21
6 /No Other Way3:37
7 /Supernova3:55
8 /Ojai4:35
9 /Smashing4:40
10 /Drive-In Movies5:03
All Tracks By LaMontagne
Dan Auerbach /Bass (Electric), Clapping, Claves, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Mellotron, Producer, Vocals (Background)
Collin Dupuis /Drum Programming
Seth Kaufman /Clapping, Congas, Drums, Electronic Percussion, Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Electric Baritone), Percussion, Snaps, Vocals (Background)
Ray LaMontagne /Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals
Leon Micheals /Acetate, Cabasa, Clapping, Electric Harpsichord, Glockenspiel, Hammond B3, Mellotron, Percussion, Piano, Piano (Electric), Tambourine, Wurlitzer
Russ Pahl /Bass, Guitar (12 String Acoustic), Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Baritone), Guitar (Electric), Pedal Steel
Dave Roe /Bass (Electric), Bass (Upright)
Richard Swift /Clapping, Drums, Drums (Electric), Percussion, Vocals (Background)
Kenny Vaughan /Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Tambourine
Review
By Thom Jurek
Over four previous albums, singer and songwriter Ray LaMontagne has presented as many different musical portraits of himself. What united those records was the signature world-weariness in his writing and singing -- even in the seeming celebratory roots rock on 2009's God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise. While Supernova, helmed by producer Dan Auerbach, presents yet another aspect of the songwriter's persona, that earthly weightiness all but vanishes. This is simultaneously LaMontagne's most sonically ambitious and purposefully referential offering to date; but the considerable topical and melodic shift in his songwriting dictated it. These songs are brighter, lighter, and musically more labyrinthine despite their ready accessibility. Auerbach's sound and textural palettes are so expansive he seems to have evoked Jack Nitzsche as a muse. He chose the band to orchestrate these songs that draw so heavily from Southern California's psychedelic pop and country-rock of the late 1960s and early '70s. "Lavender" has fat electric guitar chords that give way to a strummed acoustic guitar, Mellotron, and electric harpsichord. The dreamy Eastern feel in the music is held to earth by clipped snares and a lean bassline. But LaMontagne's layered, reverbed vocal and its whispered, percussive, "tchick-ahhh" chorus effects make the song's textures swirl. "Airwaves," in its hepcat acoustic soul and dreamy jazz, is one of several places where LaMontagne acknowledges the influence of early Van Morrison (from Astral Weeks through Moondance). "Pick Up a Gun" is darkly tinged at inception; it recalls Alice Coltrane's modalism with its harp-like Mellotron intro, but breaks into four different segments inside five minutes. It's alternately a sweet country waltz, a progressive folk-rock tune à la Tim Buckley, and a tripped-out pop tune à la Brian Wilson. "Julia" borrows the vamp from Them's "Gloria" but winds it out in grand psych rock style to become something other. The title track initially evokes the spirit of Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" with its minimal acoustic guitar vamp, pulsing organ (that sounds more like a Farfisa than a Hammond), and handclaps, but threads it with a retro-soul bridge and layers of progressive instrumentation, including glockenspiel and Mellotron, which float under a sitar impersonation and reverbed drums. "Ojai" is shimmering country-rock that simultaneously recalls Tim Hardin and John Phillips. The shifting rhythms and textures in "Smashing" are so exquisitely arranged and orchestrated, it feels like a rock suite with the alluring melody of a pop song. Closer "Drive-In Movies" an easy-grooving acoustic rocker with electric and pedal steel guitars holding the center, offers a notion of reminiscence that seems to thematically underscore the entire record. Supernova is unapologetically and indulgently retro; a casual listen might dismiss it as mere nostalgia. But pairing Auerbach's detailed, careful production with LaMontagne's open, expertly crafted songwriting and breezy, sensual, emotionally unburdened signing, that boundary is shattered.
Biography
by Steve Leggett
With a voice that recalls a huskier, sandpapery version of Van Morrison and Tim Buckley, Ray LaMontagne joins such artists as Iron & Wine in creating folk songs that are alternately lush and intimately earthy. The songwriter was born in Nashua, New Hampshire in 1973; his parents split up shortly after his birth, and his mother began a pattern of moving her six children to any locale that could offer her employment and housing. As a result, LaMontagne grew up as the perennial new kid in school (when and if he went to school at all). He did graduate high school, however, and found himself working in a shoe factory in Maine when he heard Stephen Stills' "Tree Top Flyer" on the radio. The song amounted to an epiphany for LaMontagne, who made up his mind on the spot to become a singer and musician.
By the summer of 1999, LaMontagne had put together a ten-song demo tape that soon found its way into the hands of Jamie Ceretta at Chrysalis Music Publishing. The publishing house signed the young songwriter and teamed him with producer Ethan Johns, resulting in LaMontagne's debut album, Trouble. The record was picked up by RCA and released in the fall of 2004, impressing critics with such songs as the title tune, "Trouble," and the cinematic style of pieces like "Narrow Escape." A follow-up album for the RCA label, Till the Sun Turns Black, appeared in 2006 and widened LaMontagne's palette by incorporating horns and strings. He also placed songs in multiple American television shows, including ER, Bones, and One Tree Hill. Gossip in the Grain followed in 2008, also with Johns in the production chair; his biggest commercial success to that point, it debuted at number three on the American charts and again featured several songs later heard on television shows.
In 2012, LaMontagne returned with his fourth studio album, God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise. His first album without producer Ethan Johns, the session was produced by LaMontagne at his home studio and was the first with a billing for his backing band the Pariah Dogs, including bassist Jennifer Condos, guitarist Eric Heywood, and drummer Jay Bellerose. It peaked at number three on the American album charts, and earned LaMontagne his first Grammy win, for Best Contemporary Folk Album.
Early in 2014, RCA announced that LaMontagne's fifth album would be released. Produced by the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, Supernova was issued at the end of April.