Ray LaMontagne – Trouble (20th Anniversary Remaster) (2004/2025) [FLAC 24bit/44,1kHz]

Ray LaMontagne – Trouble (20th Anniversary Remaster) (2004/2025)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 44:44 minutes | 489 MB | Genre: Folk Rock, Acoustic
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Liula Records

Celebrated Grammy award winner Ray LaMontagne will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the release of his seminal debut album, Trouble, with a special remastered vinyl edition. Additionally, LaMontagne will embark on the Trouble 20th Anniversary Tour, performing the album in its entirety for the first time since its release. On the remastered vinyl, LaMontagne continues, “When Trouble was initially released Vinyl was considered a dead format, never to breathe again. Digital audio was the new King. As we know this has proved untrue. Each year more and more music lovers are listening to vinyl and appreciating it for its depth and breadth of sound, for its physical heft, for its tangible realness.”The best songs on Trouble, the debut release from songwriter Ray LaMontagne, draw on deep wells of emotion, and with LaMontagne’s sandpapery voice, which recalls a gruffer, more sedate version of Tim Buckley or an American version of Van Morrison, they seem to belie his years. The title tune, “Trouble,” is an instant classic, sparse and maudlin (in the best sense), and songs like “Narrow Escape,” a ragged, episodic waltz, are equally impressive, with careful, cinematic lyrics that tell believable stories of wounded-hearted refugees on the hard road of life and love. Most of the tracks fall into a midtempo shuffle rhythm, so the words have to carry a lot in order to avert a sort of dull sameness, and when it works, it works big, and when it doesn’t, well, LaMontagne is so serious and sincere about his craft that you tend to forgive him instantly. Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek guests on “Hannah” and the sad, somber lullaby “All the Wild Horses,” playing fiddle and adding vocals, and producer Ethan Johns adds drums and other touches on most tracks. The sound is measured and sparse, with few frills (a five-piece string section is used on a few tracks, but is never intrusive), all of which supports the emotional urgency of LaMontagne’s writing. “How Come” sounds a bit like a rewrite of Dave Mason’s “Feelin’ Alright,” and a couple of other cuts seem a bit labored, but overall this is an impressive debut by an extremely special songwriter. – Steve Leggett

Tracklist:

1-1. Ray LaMontagne – Trouble (20th Anniversary Remaster) (04:00)
1-2. Ray LaMontagne – Shelter (20th Anniversary Remaster) (04:36)
1-3. Ray LaMontagne – Hold You in My Arms (20th Anniversary Remaster) (05:06)
1-4. Ray LaMontagne – Narrow Escape (20th Anniversary Remaster) (04:38)
1-5. Ray LaMontagne – Burn (20th Anniversary Remaster) (02:54)
1-6. Ray LaMontagne – Forever My Friend (20th Anniversary Remaster) (05:44)
1-7. Ray LaMontagne – Hannah (20th Anniversary Remaster) (05:42)
1-8. Ray LaMontagne – How Come (20th Anniversary Remaster) (04:32)
1-9. Ray LaMontagne – Jolene (20th Anniversary Remaster) (04:10)
1-10. Ray LaMontagne – All the Wild Horses (20th Anniversary Remaster) (03:16)

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