Ouroboros (Ray LaMontagne album) explained

Ouroboros
Type:	studio
Artist:	Ray LaMontagne
Cover:	Ouroboros (Front Cover).png
Border:	yes
Alt:	An image of the Moon in red, surrounded by a ring of light.
Recorded:	February 2015
Studio:	La La Land, Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Genre:	Psychedelic rock
Label:	RCA
Producer:	Jim James
Prev Title:	Supernova
Prev Year:	2014
Next Title:	Part of the Light
Next Year:	2018

Ouroboros is the sixth studio album by Ray LaMontagne, released on March 4, 2016. It features My Morning Jacket's frontman Jim James, who also produced the record. Lead single "Hey, No Pressure" debuted online on January 20, 2016. The rest of My Morning Jacket, minus James, joined LaMontagne on the road for the album's release tour.

Critical reception

Editors at AllMusic rated this album 3.5 out of 5 stars, with critic Marcy Donelson writing that this "is a deliberate work of album rock". Writing for American Songwriter, Lee Zimmerman scored this release 4 out of 5, calling it "one of the more challenging major label efforts released this year". At Drowned in Sound, Haydon Spenceley gave this album an 8 out of 10, cautioning listeners that "it's so different from the majority of [LaMontagne's] previous output that it might take some time to truly get to grips with".

Track listing

All songs written by Ray LaMontagne.

Part One

1. "Homecoming" – 8:28
2. "Hey, No Pressure" – 6:34
3. "The Changing Man" – 4:13
4. "While It Still Beats" – 4:10

Part Two

5. "In My Own Way" – 6:36
6. "Another Day" – 3:05
7. "A Murmuration of Starlings" – 2:33
8. "Wouldn't It Make a Lovely Photograph" – 3:58

Personnel

• Ray LaMontagne – vocals (1–6, 8), electric guitar (2, 3, 4, 5, 7), acoustic guitar (1, 2, 5, 6, 8)
• Dan Dorff – CP70 (1, 3–8), RMI (1, 3, 4, 5, 7), piano (1, 3, 4), vibes (1, 7), Mellotron (3, 4), Trident synthesizer (3, 7), Multivox piano (2), Juno (2), pump organ (5), pocket piano (7)
• Meghan Foley – art direction, design
• Anne Gauthier – assistant
• Dave Givan – drums, percussion (1–5, 7, 8)
• Jim James – electric guitar (2, 3, 4, 5, 7), background vocals (2, 3, 4, 5), saxophone (2), Juno (2), Trident synthesizer (7)
• Seth Kaufman – bass (1–5, 7, 8), meditation box (1, 5, 6, 7), electric guitar textures (1, 2), slide guitar (2)
• Bob Ludwig – mastering
• Alexis Marsh – background vocals (3, 4)
• Kevin Ratterman – Moog bass (5, 7), piano strings (1), pocket piano (2), Moog F/X (6)
• Brian Stowell – photography