No panic from Ray LaMontagne

Ray LaMontagne & the Pariah Dogs’ fourth album “God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise” has come at the perfect time.

With all the stress of classes starting in the coming weeks, you will need to unwind and chill to great soulful music at some point.

The album begins with “Repo Man,” a ballad comparable to the songs on LaMontagne’s previous albums, but the rest of the album slows down a bit and shows a slightly more mellow and introspective LaMontagne.

His confident husky voice resonates with power and grace and adds depth to his lyrics of uncertainty.

He captures the essence of confusion and sadness about the end of a relationship and still retains a sense of hope.

All ten tracks of this album come together like the perfect recipe. Each have a distinct flavor, yet together they become something much greater than themselves.

LaMontagne succeeds at showing how helpless we are, provides hope in our sadness and helps create an escape to a place where we are free from all our emotional baggage, yet feel strangely at home.