The inspiration for Ray LaMontagne’s reflective ninth album was a line in Townes Van Zandt’s ‘To Live Is To Fly’: “Where you been is good and gone / All you keep is the getting there”. “It took me nine songs to express what Townes managed to say in one line,” deadpans LaMontagne. “I guess I still got a lot to learn.”

He needn’t worry, as Long Way Home is a masterful record of timeless songwriting that doesn’t sound like an album from 2024, rather like a hidden gem that has lain in a Bay Area basement since the early ’70s, only discovered when new owners moved in.

‘I Wouldn’t Change A Thing’ is a countrified reflection on a life well-lived and a dearth of regrets, complete with aching slide guitar solo and an effortlessly catchy singalong that harks back to the heyday of Paul Simon, both with and without Art. ‘The Way Things Are’ is all finger-plucked guitar and aching vocal; this is as good a song as LaMontagne has ever produced, again featuring shades of Simon in the melancholy and longing as he insists “You can be free”.

‘Step Into Your Power’ is a joyous anthem of empowerment and encouragement, yet behind the catchy acoustic singalong is a gospel belter waiting to let loose. ‘Yearning’ is a slow, earnest statement of intent, the singer insisting, “I will face my fate, standing tall”. The Nashville twang and harmonica on his ode to the Sunshine state, ‘And They Called Her California’, is reminiscent of Neil Young in his ’70s pomp, while the slow and sad title-track has echoes of JJ Cale, regret dripping from every syllable.

It may clock in at just under 32 minutes and include two instrumentals, but what it lacks in length, Long Way Home more than makes up for in quality.

9/10