With Ray LaMontagne’s Monovision, the singer-songwriter delivers emotionally captivating folk-rock balladry that soothes in its candor, soul, and simplicity. After pushing his musical boundaries a bit with the experimentalism of 2014’s Supernova and 2016’s Ouroboros, for his eighth album, LaMontagne returns to familiar territory. The album has all of the Ray LaMontagne trademarks, consisting mostly of love ballads shared via gently strummed minor chords, soft crooning vocals, and a soft, tender atmosphere. But what the album lacks in surprises it makes up for in authenticity, Monovision consisting of the introspective musings of a folk singer baring his soul.
“Where do you turn when this living starts to burn through layers that you learned to wrap around your heart somehow?” LaMontagne asks on the relaxed, comforting ballad “We’ll Make It Through.” As LaMontagne attempts to reassure, his soft vocals and gentle composition invite the listener to lean in as if to hear a secret.
“I Was Born to Love You” is a typical LaMontagne wooing ballad, his soft, raspy croon serenading over folksy strums and a warm lead guitar lick. “I know you give because you want to; don’t you think it’s time you learn to let yourself receive?” he asks.
There is a soulful immersion at the root of LaMontagne’s music. His husky voice and whispered delivery carries a weariness, a hint of a lifetime of pain and struggle behind the pleasant love declarations. Most of Monovision is soft and slow, the music thriving on its nuances – intricate melodies, a guitar or harmonica flourish, evocative tones. At times, though, LaMontagne cuts loose from those subtleties and delivers some of the album’s best moments.
Album-opener “Roll Me Mamma, Roll Me” is a finger-picked love ballad that excels due to LaMontagne’s impassioned vocal delivery in the chorus. As the song transitions from verse to chorus, LaMontagne’s voice shifts from light and gentle to a strong, grainy rasp. “Roll me mamma, roll me like only you can,” he sings, the pain heard in his throaty delivery adding a sense of desperation.
“Strong Enough” is the album’s most upbeat track and one of its finest, built upon an infectious folksy groove and LaMontagne’s deceptively powerful voice at its most unrestrained. “I’ve been told there’s gold in this land; all I know is what I hold in my own two hands,” LaMontagne belts.
Aside from self-producing and engineering Monovision, LaMontagne plays all of the instruments, giving him extensive control over his music. The result is a throwback album that sounds a bit like 2004’s Trouble, though its timeless sound would fit virtually anywhere in America’s roots.
