Till the Sun Turns Black

Ray LaMontagne | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 29, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000GPIPVU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (123 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,724 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #21 in Music > Folk > Contemporary Folk > Singer-Songwriters
  • #32 in Music > Folk > Contemporary Folk > General
  • #100 in Music > Pop > Adult Contemporary > General AAS

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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

Product Description

Ray LaMontagne's new CD, Till The Sun Turns Black, is a deeply personal and profoundly introspective piece of work. There's no doubt the 300,000+ fans who fell in love with Ray after hearing his critically acclaimed 2004 debut, Trouble, will love this new collection of music. At the same time, "Till The Sun Turns Black," Ray's second collaboration with celebrated producer Ethan Johns, marks a daring push beyond the acoustic roots of his first CD, and into more complex and diverse styles, textures and arrangements.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 66 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars No Sophomore Slump August 29, 2006

By S. Finefrock VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

Ray Lamontagne's new album TILL THE SUN TURNS BLACK makes a solid follow up to his great 2004 debut TROUBLE. TROUBLE introduced a singer who was favorably compared to such heavy weights as Van Morrison and Otis Redding.

While TROUBLE hit you over the head with it's great title track and then continued with some songs in a similar mode, the new album is a different beast altogether. TILL THE SUN TURNS BLACK moves at a slow simmer, rising only above a whisper on a couple of tunes. Despite it's subtlety, this album packs the same emotional punch as its predecessor. Lamontagne's songs are floated on quiet string and brass arrangements with acoustic guitar and stirring vocals to create a music that falls somewhere between the blues and the music of Nick Drake. It all shadows and smoke.

Fans of TROUBLE will no doubt find much to like here, but will need to approach this new release with patience. A point of reference for existing fans would be TROUBLE's closing track ALL THE WILD HORSES. It is an album that will reward the listener with more depth each time they play it.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best albums of the year. The amazing Ray LaMontagne.. January 9, 2007

By A. G. Corwin

Format:Audio CD

Sounding like a combination of southern rocker, singer-songwriter, and acoustic balladeer, it's rather surprising to learn Ray LaMontagne comes from New Hampshire. If you haven't heard his debut album "Trouble", then you will be picking it up soon once you hear his excellent second studio album, Til The Sun Turns Black. From the elegant opening bars of "Be Here Now" and the first gravely, rumbling vocals, you understand you are hearing real, unique talent. If you can fall in love with an artist after 2 songs, then this is one of those albums.

"Be Here Now" mixes a strong acoustic guitar melody with atmospheric strings that ebb and flow with the song's moods. LaMontagne's perfect voice is the glue holding the disparate elements together, a plaintive call to a lover (perhaps lost?). This song alone made me a fan. "Empty" is a Tom Petty-ish mid-tempo acoustic rocker with strings, as his elegantly poetic lyrics describe a world he is searching for. With his wild hair and bushy beard, LaMontagne looks as if he stepped off the stage in the 1970's, and his music certainly evokes that time. "Barfly" is a simple acoustic ode to a woman, "kiss me before you go...I'm going nowhere baby", with a soft harmony provided by singer Rachael Yamagata. Though he intertwines themes of loneliness and loss with love and hope, no songs feel depressing or dark; Ray's voice possesses so much life that you sense he sings with a wry detachment.

"Three More Days" takes in some keyboards and a southern blues drum beat, and lays LaMontagne's plaintive voice over the top "three more days...girl you know I'll be right there by your side baby..I can bring it on home..." Some well-mixed horns give the song some added life, but this is the most southern sounding of all the songs. "Can I Stay" is a James Taylor sounding ballad, "there is nothing I want more except to wake up on your floor", while "You Can Bring Me Flowers" incorporates some jazzy horns with a up-tempo electric guitar. "Gone Away From Me" is reminiscent of a funkier version of Chris Isaac. "Lesson Learned" and "Truly, Madly, Deeply" are soft ballads, and "Til the Sun Turns Black" echoes back to "Be Here Now" with its soft vocals, strings, and acoustic guitar. "Within You" is a upbeat closing track that fits the overall mood of the album and sends it off gently.

Despite its 44 minute running time, this album packs a punch of emotion and poetic lyrics. Ethan Johns did an excellent job keeping LaMontagne's voice as an instrument, its gravel rawness blended perfectly with acoustic and electric guitar, strings, and horns. This was an album that builds on the success of his debut Trouble, and demonstrates again that the gift of the singer-songwriter comes from within. Ray LaMontagne of New Hampshire and Lewiston, Maine has a unique gift, and was kind enough to share it with us. This is a must hear album, and on my Top 5 for 2006. Pick this one up today.

A.G. Corwin

St Louis, MO

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Singer/Songwriter April 1, 2007

By Michael Z. Jody

Format:Audio CD

Till The Sun Turns Black is the second terrific album by singer/songwriter Ray LaMontagne, whose first wonderful album, was Trouble (2004). Ray is not a cheerful or sunny soul (the title should be a hint of that, no?). Rather, like Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison, Kelly Joe Phelps, he mostly mines the caves of sadness, loss, weariness, lassitude, and sorrow. He sings in a hushed and plaintive voice which is like the far off sounds of a train, mournful and distant. Don't get me wrong, Ray is wonderful to hear, just don't spin this disc if you are already feeling a bit, shall we say, desperate. Or then again, maybe you should. Just maybe his own wretched misery would be enough to make you say, "Hey, at least I don't feel THAT bad." But joking, aside, this album, despite being slightly tarnished by too much fancy strings and orchestral sounding background, has some truly stellar gems.

The song "Empty" is sheer poetry:

"lay your blouse across the chair,

let fall the flowers from your hair

and kiss me with that country mouth, so plain.

outside, the rain is tapping on the leaves,

to me it sounds like they're applauding us the quiet love we made.

will i always feel this way?

so empty, so estranged"

Buy the album for "Empty" but stay and listen to the whole thing. It is well worth it. Thank you Mr. LaMontagne.