Grammy Award winner, Ray LaMontagne, is set to release his sixth studio album, Ouroboros, on March 4th via RCA Records. Ouroboros was produced by Ray and Jim James of My Morning Jacket. The album was written by Ray and will feature first single, Hey, No Pressure.
Yesterday the single premiered on NPR’s All Songs Considered in the U.S. where they called the track an “inspired new song,” stamped the album “incredible,” and that Ray “has continued to push himself in different directions.” The Canadian premiere was hosted on CBC Music.
Earlier this week, Ray sent a postcard to a small group of fans with a preview of the album:
Ladies and Gentleman,
I would like to extend to you this humble invitation: to be among a select few of my listening audience to hear a passage from my latest composition titled ‘Ouroboros’.
‘Ouroboros’ is an album musically unlike any I have recorded previously. It did not make itself known to me in sections, sessions, or moments carved out of the clutter of every day life. It presented itself as the simple question: “Will you follow me?”
Of course I couldn’t say no. I had to follow. What else could I do?
I had nothing with which to record the journey that was taken. The album is merely an attempt to recreate, from memory, the landscapes, the colors, the sights and sounds that were experienced. I only thank God for the vividness of those experiences, and for the ease of their recollection.
I realize that in my invitation for you to listen, I am in fact asking something of you as well; for listening is not a purely passive act. Listening takes effort. To listen is to participate.
There can be no conversation without one who is first willing to listen.
And so I both invite you to, and ask if you might, sit, quiet your surroundings, quiet your mind, and listen as I present to you the question that was first presented to me: Will you follow me?
Yrs,
Ray LaMontagne
Ray LaMontagne has released 5 studio albums (Trouble, Till The Sun Turns Black, Gossip in the Grain, God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise and Supernova) and sold out numerous tours across the US. Ray’s 2010 album, God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise, won the Grammy for Best Folk Album and was nominated in the coveted Song of The Year category for Beg Steal or Borrow. Ray’s last single, Supernova, off the album of the same name, became one of Ray’s fastest growing singles at AAA radio, with the song rocketing into the top 5 within two weeks of impact.
