The Mike Montrey Band’s new single “I Can’t Wait Any Longer” from his forthcoming album release Searching for My Soul has dual value. It serves as an excellent introduction for newcomers to Montrey’s songwriting and reaffirms his growing talents for those following his work. He’s enlisted the expertise of two-time Grammy winner Marc Swersky to produce the new album and the famed producer brings attention to detail and nuance to a work already brimming with both.
URL: https://mikemontreyband.com/
He’s aided, as well, by some of the same musicians who’ve taken this ride with him from the first. Vocalist Jen Augustine and bassist Anthony Duca are joined by comparative newcomers drummer Brian Prokop, keyboardist John Ginty, and pedal steel guitarist Jack Stanton. Montrey’s guitar chops are capable of dominating anything he touches, but you don’t hear that here. He has a top-flight band and plays with them each step of the way.
Montrey’s music draws from a wide gamut of influences but “I Can’t Wait Any Longer” finds fertile ground in a classic blues/R&B sound. Ginty’s smoldering organ embellishments diversify the song’s texture and move it away from sounding too guitar centered; his ambitions are broader and deeper than paint by numbers blues rock. The horns riffing away throughout the track are a key touch pushing this track to a higher plane.
The lyrics reflect this as well. The same well-honed sense of economy shaving any suggestion of fat from the single is present in the words. His focus on plain-spoken vulnerability and picking his spots for flashes of poetry is a potent mix for the song. His voice is a compelling musical vehicle and he’s cultivated an artistic restraint with its use that makes it all the more powerful. Take a careful listen to how his phrasing effortlessly glides through the lines without ever sounding too performative. Second vocalist Jen Augustine is essential to the song’s success. She doesn’t carry the lead vocal like Montrey, no, but her voice inhabits the song every bit as much as his. The performance often positions her in counterpoint to him and, like any great partnership, there’s vocal chemistry apparent from the outset.
Montrey’s inventive guitar work doesn’t ever veer into ostentatious territory. He’s serving the song before anything else and there’s a confidence in his playing that builds near-immediate trust with listeners. Swersky captures his guitar sound without any needless bells and whistles. The producer and mixer Seth von Paulus do a fantastic job incorporating his guitar sound with the other musicians while maintaining balance. There’s no single star outshining all others. It’s a band.
Searching for My Soul is shaping up to be one of the year’s finest releases based on this single alone. “I Can’t Wait Any Longer” can stand on its own, as well, separated from the album as Montrey and the band are working at a level where each song is a fully-rounded and self-sufficient work while still maintaining its place in a larger scheme. Hearing the song in the context of the album will be like experiencing it again for the first time from a different angle. It’s an excellent choice for a single release and begs for relistening.
Chadwick Easton