RAY LAMONTAGNE: Part Of The Light (Columbia)

HAVING worked with outsiders Dan Auerbach and Jim James on his last two albums, backwoods balladeer Ray LaMontagne reverts to a homespun approach. The gutwrenching soul of 2004’s Trouble seems a distant memory on a record of gentle folk and warm, electronic glazes, but the songs are elegant, with As Black As Blood Is Blue adding twin-harmony guitars and an unexpected psychedelic touch. ★★★✩✩