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Track Listings
| 1. Be Here Now |
| 2. Empty |
| 3. Barfly |
| 4. Three More Days |
| 5. Can I Stay |
| 6. You Can Bring Me Flowers |
| 7. Gone Away From Me |
| 8. Lesson Learned |
| 9. "Truly, Madly, Deeply" |
| 10. Till The Sun turns Black |
| 11. Within You |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
How do you follow a debut record that achieved out-of-the-blue grandeur on its way to selling a quarter of a million copies? For Maine's Ray LaMontagne, it's all about shaking up the formula, evading repetition and delivering the unexpected. Till the Sun Turns Black finds the introspective singer/songwriter complementing his folk-country ways with traces of strings and horns and spooky soulful background voices. Songs like "You Can Bring Me Flowers" and "Three More Days" are the most R&B-influenced, the latter shuffling about ala The Band or Tony Joe White. Despite its brooding lyrics, "Empty" has a rollicking, almost breezy delivery, a perfect balance to either the hushed title track, the unnerving "Be Here Now" or the horn-fortified waltz, "Gone Away From Me." Throughout the 11-song sequence, and especially on the final song "Within You," LaMontagne's voice remains the record's most crucial element, as vibrant as it is tattered and as harsh as it is flawless. --Scott Holter
Review
For a man who likes to pose as an idiosyncratic loner, Ray LaMontagne has a lot of musical friends. On Till The Sun Turns Black, the follow-up to the much acclaimed 2004 album, Trouble, are echoes of David Bowie ca. Space Oddity, Lou Reed, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and even Miles Davis. All these influences are carefully worked into LaMontagne's own particular world-view and suggest too this brooding cowboy might want a bigger audience.
The New Hampshire-born singer delivers a stirring cycle of songs that summon us to hope while never quite shedding their melancholy burden. The opening track, "Be Here Now", fades into existence gently, coming out of some inner silence to settle and brood - throughout the album we return to these silent spaces of reflection and regret. "Barfly" is a bittersweet round-the-fire guitar song, which finds the singer on familiar territory: America, nowhere special, all alone, contemplating his fate. "Three More Days" reminds us that he can do the blues as well as sound just plain blue.
Noted alt-country producer Ethan Johns (who has also worked with Ryan Adams and the Kings of Leon) was criticised for smoothing down some of the rough edges on Trouble and once again his hand in honing the overall feel of songs is evident. LaMontagne has said he chose songs that 'ate away' at him for Till The Sun!, but sometimes the raw emotion of his voice is woven into an overly polished treatment. The horns on "Gone Away from Me" and "Within You" don't embellish so much as clutter those tracks. In contrast, the lean strings on "Empty" work beautifully with the understated mood and whispering vocals.
He's not a great writer, but he excels at imbuing simple lyrics with portentous significance. LaMontagne loves the second person singular - not necessarily the ideal folk-song voice - but he addresses his subjects with real pain and occasional anger - and it works.
The best songs on the album, "Lesson Learned" and "Empty", are probably neither as convincing nor as complex as "Jolene" on Trouble. In some ways that song remains a benchmark, for achieving the perfect balance of thought and feeling that keeps LaMontagne from falling too far into the sensitive-songwriter mode. Till the Sun Turns Black is a quite beautiful record. Somewhere to rest on the journey between a contemporary American culture he clearly loathes and the Great Diner in the Sky that awaits us all. --Chris Moss
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
How refreshing it is when a master producer and a great artist collaborate for a second time , only to reward listeners with a collection of songs that sound nothing like the prior recording. Ethan Johns and Ray LaMontagne hook up to produce one of the real stunning and rewarding discs I've heard this year. Stunning, because how different the disc is from it's predecessor. Overall the recording is a hushed, lush affair with orchestration and simple use of acoustic sounds which at times sound so fluid, yet fragile, that you think the song is about to fall apart. Organ , guitar, flute, you name it, seems that Ethan pulls them all out of the closet for use at the right time. Ray's vocals are far more subdued on this release and he only let's it fly on the radio single, "Three More Days" which relies heavily on a simple funky organ groove that slowly rises into an all out rocking affair with the added bonus of Memphis horns. Because of the song's slow build up, it fits nicely into the mix and doesn't stand out of place. There's flourishes of everyone from George Martin with The Beatles, John Lennon with Billy Preston, Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks" era and Joe Boyd with Nick Drake. The gorgeous Spanish guitar on "Lesson Learned" is of heart breaking stuff which then leads the listener into the only instrumental track, "Truly, Madly, Deeply. The album closes with "Within You" which has to be one of the most beautiful, simple pleads for love and peace in our world since John Lennon and Yoko Ono were doing it in the 70's. Yeah, the lyrics are short and repetitive, but that's the point, to focus our ears on the simple message backed by the New Orleans style horns, ukulele, strings and Ray's amazing voice, which sounds amazingly like a slide guitar on this track. Good stuff!
Stand out tracks for me:
-"Within You"
-"Lesson Learned"
-"Be Here Now"
Stand out tracks for me:
-"Within You"
-"Lesson Learned"
-"Be Here Now"
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Then you should love this! This for me is a real progression from his first album. It is quite simply a beautiful piece of work. The songs follow each other with a real sense of continuation-it isn't a concept album, but it all works. Of course, some of the songs are meant to segue into each other. The join between the penultimate and the last song is so sweet. And the instrumental "Truly, Madly, Deeply" which follows to bitter "Lesson Learned is incredible. The last line of the latter song is sung with such an understated edge of resignation and venomous bitterness. God, this man can sing.
But what I love about his singing is the way he seems to be able convey massive amounts of emotion, yet sound as if he is holding so much back! I don't know how to explain what I mean, but if you listen you'll get it.
There is so much on this album to love. He crosses again (as he did with "Trouble") so many genres, but never sounds as if he's just trying to impress!
But what I love about his singing is the way he seems to be able convey massive amounts of emotion, yet sound as if he is holding so much back! I don't know how to explain what I mean, but if you listen you'll get it.
There is so much on this album to love. He crosses again (as he did with "Trouble") so many genres, but never sounds as if he's just trying to impress!
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Ray Lamontagne's first album has been relaunched four or five times (but the record company never seems to follow through). As a result Trouble has been out for sometime now and the multiple launches has delayed the release of his second album here in the UK, which is a shame as the sequel- Till The Sun Turns Black, seriously eclipses his debut Trouble, not that Trouble was a poor effort, far from it.
Till The Sun Turns Black sees Ray's vocal delivery coming across a little sweeter and a little less dry than on Trouble, and the instrumentation is far richer, running from a Stax/Memphis Horns backing on a couple of tracks to a muted trumpet that wouldn't sound out of place in a Northern England brass band, then there is the purest simplicity of a guitar and voice (Lesson Learned); then we have a simple string backing on the title track. The overall effect is that the music carries you along without detracting from the Ray's vocal performances.
Till The Sun Turns Black sees Ray's vocal delivery coming across a little sweeter and a little less dry than on Trouble, and the instrumentation is far richer, running from a Stax/Memphis Horns backing on a couple of tracks to a muted trumpet that wouldn't sound out of place in a Northern England brass band, then there is the purest simplicity of a guitar and voice (Lesson Learned); then we have a simple string backing on the title track. The overall effect is that the music carries you along without detracting from the Ray's vocal performances.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not as good as the debut album Trouble
Following the success of his excellent debut album "Trouble", Ray LaMontagne follows it up with "Till The Sun Turns Black" which continues with the effective blend of his gruff... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Amillionmiles
Till the sun turns black: Ray LaMontagne - Stunningly good second...
Having recently listened to, and thoroughly enjoyed, Ray LaMontagne's debut album (Trouble) I determined to get the rest of his back catalogue and see where he went next. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Victor
Pleasent music - Great recording
If I had a penny for every "sing-a-song-writer" wannabe there is, I would be loaded. Thank God for the real ones, because I just love the style when it's done right. Read more
Published 18 months ago by L. Hjorth
Underated
A singer that really has talent. Saw him live in U.K. Will be buying more of his music. Great vocals with feeling and bluesy music.
Published 21 months ago by Mr. M. P. Paterson
Don't be looking for more Trouble
Took a little while to grow on me - very different to "Trouble" - if anything, it is all similar to the "All the Wild Horses" on the first album. Read more
Published on 15 Feb 2010 by Peggy G
Brilliant
Wonderful album, fairly quirky but hooks you right in. I've had it for quite a while now and it still gets me most of the time. Good quality recording too.
Published on 26 Mar 2009 by malteser
a masterpiece
this album is a masterpiece. cant stop listening to it, it gets in to your head and his voice gets into your soul.
Published on 25 Jan 2009 by traildog71
Incredible
I have only had this album for two days and it is already one of my favourites! Although I had heard of Ray Lamontagne, I had not heard any of his music and ordered this album... Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2008 by C. Rides
Really really good.
My brother pointed me to Ray lamontagne, I have not listened to the Trouble album But I love this... The lyrics and the singing are very emotional and do touch the listener. Read more
Published on 26 Sep 2008 by spacecadet
Ground-breaking and captivating music
'Till the Sun...' is so much more better than 'Trouble' in so many ways, I think I'd have to be a quadruped with 60 toes to count them all! Read more
Published on 20 April 2008 by Robert Head
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