MONOVISION

Ray LaMontagne has been making albums long enough to firmly establish the warm rusticity of his singer-songwriter approach, then pursue his more psychedelic inclinations. On his eighth full-length, <i>MONOVISION</i>, he circles back to a sort of considered simplicity: He not only handled all of the production on his own, but the playing and engineering too. LaMontagne gives his pastoral paeans, like “Summer Clouds” and “Rocky Mountain Healin’”, handsome acoustic arrangements, while the folk-pop “Morning Comes Wearing Diamonds” and “Weeping Willow” each get entwining two-voice harmonies. He reserves his soul rasp for “Strong Enough” and “Roll Me Mama, Roll Me”, but otherwise reminds what a precise, elegant singer he can be when he wants to. The overall mood, well captured by “We’ll Make It Through”, is one of firm but weathered optimism. “Together we'll get through,” he vows during that song in a soft, woolen timbre, settling into the next, pivotal line with a hint of resignation: “We always do.”