When you first lay your eyes on Ray Lamontagne the first things you take in are his beard, his coy but wise smile, and his checkered flannel button up. While beards and flannel have been striding the streets of big cities in attempts at achieving the "urban woodsman" look, none of those guys have anything on Ray, who originally hails from the state of Maine, and who's voice sounds like it belongs in the woods.
For his fourth album Ray gives due credit to his backing band, The Pariah Dogs. In this album it particular seems that the instruments and his voice have formed a special bond, starting with the first track, "Repo Man," which opens with a minute long acoustic guitar, a swanky bass line, and once Ray and the drummer join in, an almost funk vibe. After the 6 minute song however, Lamontagne jumps ship from the funky beats as the beautiful and somber "New York City's Killing Me" begins. The steel guitar is on cue when it comes to bringing out the melancholy and longing sentiments in Ray's words. Following NYC is the title track ballad, "God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise." This is his shortest song, and it evokes a hot summer heat that the slow moving steel guitar might (but hopefully not) remind you of a Hawaiian vibe, but it actually feels more like a dry and lazy Oklahoma summer porch ballad. Following the title track is "Beg Steal or Borrow." Yet again the steel guitar and his voice are meant for each other in this one, but the bass also adds in another element to the song, laying a mist of "old times' sake" in it. The middle of the album has love songs that are perhaps too much of tearjerkers to be my cup of tea, but towards the end he captures his beginning hopeful essence again. Resembling and old Neil Young country feel, particularly in "Devil's in the Jukebox," his raspy voice captures a mid-west cyanotype picture that ends the album on a higher beat.
God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise may not be an perfect piece of work, as I feel like he could have done well with taking out the depressing love songs, however I am quite fond of it since it now is my new companion on dusky car rides.
Check out Repo Man live below:
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