Winter is the season for this performer; this album. Gossip in
the Grain goes with warming by a fire or looking through a frosty
window for signs of life in the white vista. It’s not surprising that
LaMontagne does much of his writing and recording deep in the Maine
woods. His signature is the rasp—less contrived than Michael Bolton,
more vulnerable than Joe Cocker. Orchestral elements, though kept
distant, add richness to a few tunes, most notably the confessional
“Sarah.” Meg White, of The White Stripes, gets a love letter—a
welcome dose of light-heartedness. Nothing like a cute drummer to
redirect a balladeer’s yearning.
This article appears in Feb 5-11, 2009.