M. Ward
Hold Time
Merge Records
By Mike Randall
Evolution with M. Ward is subtle. Like a Bruce Springsteen, he gives you what’s expected, consistently delivering image-laden lyrics to the timeless tune of rustic, sun-soaked folk music that would have felt as comfortable in the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma as the shore of Maui. Hold Time, Ward’s latest, however, picks up where he left off with 2007’s Post-War and fertilizes it exponentially. More up-tempo and varied than Post-War, Ward delivers a record that will work for those that love what’s he’s done, and will settle the appetite of those wishing for a little more.
The story here is the sonic palette Ward plays with for the first time. Traditionalists need not fear – the production is done in a way it’s blended in to the point it feels like it’s always been present, and it’s not overbearing in the slightest. But it’s not only the elements he’s tweaking: as an album it’s stylistically and texturally unlike anything he’s done, and the result is Ward’s most lush record to date, and also his most complete.
As the record gets underway, there’s only a slight hint that Ward is taking things in a more bloated direction. Kicking off with the shuffling guitar of “For Beginners,” the impression is that Ward is unleashing Post-War, Part Two. The “Revolution”-style rocker, “Never Had Nobody Like You,” featuring Ward’s She & Him counterpart Zooey Deschanel, then begins to solicit the impression that Ward’s out to mix it up a tad. Following the compact folk-pop of “Jailbird,” the album’s title track makes it clear he wants to be perceived as more than just a folkie. “Hold Time” plays with gorgeous orchestration and Flaming Lips-esque atmospherics, while Ward smoothens his gravel-y voice to a near falsetto, crooning slowly and with his typical passion: “I wrote this song just to remember the endless summer of your life,” he sings. Ward’s reinvention of Buddy Holly’s “Rave On,” complete with a filthy breezy, blues-y turnaround, is worth the price of admission alone, as is the country-tinged “Fisher Of Men,” which sounds like the Tennessee Three joined by oceanic splashes of Ward’s tremolo-shaken guitar. Ward takes another trip to Nashville with a cover of Don Gibson’s “Oh Lonesome Me,” dueting with Lucinda Williams over slow, haunting blues-folk reminiscent of Mazzy Star’s cover of “Sweet Jane.”
Those not looking for Ward to expand will still have plenty to sort through. With its backing harmonies, “To Save Me” recalls classic 1950’s folk-pop, while the timeless rocking-chair folk of “One Hundred Million Years” will likely be a favorite. Singing about the permanence of love, Ward laments, “This love, this life between you and I, is older than that burning ball of fire up in the sky.” Ward’s guitar playing is crisp per usual, especially during the traditional-sounding “Shangri-La,” which Ward sprinkles with his classical influences. “Blake’s View” is another cut offering the laid-back, mellow strumming familiar to fans, complete with some of Ward’s most poignant lyrics: “Death is just a door, Blake said it first/It’s just another room we enter, it’s a threshold that hurts…Death is just a door, you’ll be reunited on the other side.”
Not many musicians can produce a record equally suited for a gramophone or an iPod. As such, it’s nice to see Ward branching out because as we learn with Hold Time, he has an almost uncanny ability to make any track and any style his own. His voice and guitar come together like gentle ripples in the ocean, moving with the force of the breeze behind him. With Hold Time, he’s made his biggest splash yet.
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