Love, Time & Mortality asks big questions while keeping things personal for Americana veterans, Mike Montrey Band.
By Graeme Smith
Life never stops. Even when it does for us personally, we leave behind a legacy and memories of us in the minds of others, as we blend back into the cosmic void. These are the kind of musings that we get from Love, Time & Mortality, but if that sounds unwieldly, don’t worry, Mike Montrey and his band have poured it all through a filter of gentle, familiar Americana.
Right from the opening of Stained Glass Window Panes we get finger-picking, sorrowful strings and a bittersweet brightness with its lyrics. The story combines reassuring sentiments with striking imagery in a way that instantly gripped me. Mike’s personal motivation behind the song is memories of his mother but there’s a universality about it that means we can all feel along.
Reflections on death often lead us to embracing life more fully and we see this pattern in this album too. Joyful moments such as Fortune Teller encourage us to seize the day, and Holdin’ on to Nothin’ revels in its romanticism. A duet, it features the breathy vocals of Jen Augustine alongside Mike’s gruffness. Their voices pair beautifully.
Elsewhere we get the lively Cimarron County, the vaudevillian The Devil Caught Me Napping, and the melancholic memories of Our Last Goodbye. To Be In Love With Me is sultry and soulful, Inside Out is pleading and pensive, and Take Me Home is cantering and compelling. The album is closed by a heartfelt cover of Bob Dylan’s Emotionally Yours.
Mike’s music is informed by hard-bitten experience. 47 years old, he’s experienced the loss of love ones, the end of a marriage, and the joy of fatherhood. It all adds up to engaging song-writing that takes life for what it is. Add that to more than two decades in the music industry, working alongside Grammy winners like Jim Scott and Marc Swersky, and you get a force to be reckoned with.
Love, Time & Mortality was self-produced by Mike and engineered by Adam Vaccarelli. It features musical contributions from Jack Stanton, Mike Noordzy, Jen Augustine, Santo Rizzolo, Nicole Scorsone, and John Ginty. The album is out now and you can listen to it below.
