LaMontagne decided on a different approach to the new Gossip in the Grain, which comes out Tuesday, the day after he appears at the Keswick Theatre.

"It's more about taking each song individually with no real effort to make a cohesive thing," he says by phone. "It's really just a batch of songs. If something struck us as exciting that day, we just went and followed it."

So, along with echoes of Leonard Cohen, Astral Weeks and Tim Buckley in songs like "Sarah" and "Winter Birds," Gossip includes the rumbling harmonica chug of "Henry Nearly Killed Me (It's a Shame)"; the Basement Tapes country blues of "Hey Me, Hey Mama"; the extroverted, horn-happy R&B of "You're the Best Thing"; and, oddest of all, "Meg White," an ambitiously Beatles-esque song that's a mash note to the White Stripes' drummer.

Gossip's loose vibe and playful diversity is already causing a stir among some of LaMontagne's fans.

"Some people who listen to my stuff don't like that; they're not reacting well to it," LaMontagne admits. "They're just going to have to get over it, I'm afraid. But I totally understand: people don't like change."

Rest assured, Gossip contains plenty of songs to satisfy those who turn to LaMontagne for emotionally fraught soul - mellow and dramatic without being melodramatic - but it also reveals that he's a fan of the White Stripes' rowdiness.

"When I get down about stuff, I put on their records to remind myself what it's all about," he says. "You can put a White Stripes record on and remember, oh yeah, it's fun. That's why I love making music. There's nothing better than picking up a guitar and following the melody somewhere and seeing where it leads you. It's wonderful."

And sometimes, it leads to "Meg White."