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M. Ward Holds On

Seriously? This guy put out ANOTHER great album?

M. Ward

Hold Time

Released on Feb 17, 2009

Sometimes music has the capacity to help us do a little personal time-traveling by triggering memories that I, perhaps, would like to keep buried in the deep, cavernous, recesses of my skull. Appropriately, it’s probably a bit easier to get into a band’s sound if it’s bringing back memories that you do want to retrieve. And, well, sometimes music just moves you. A gentle trigger of emotion enough to remind you that not all of life’s paper-chasing idiom isn’t an end in itself. 

M. Ward’s “Hold Time” simply hits all of these points gently on the nose. It doesn’t necessarily aspire to be the great mediator of emotion or memories and it certainly won’t have you doing jump kicks in your underwear whilst playing air guitar. But for an album that seems to hit enough of the right buttons it does provide a respite especially in its stellar moments. Specifically, on “Never Had Nobody Like You” (which features former She and Him band-mate Zooey Deschanel) Ward conjures up an innocent sense of love that comes through fully on his raspy vocals and the fuzzy, Blues guitar rhythm. Or on “Epistemology” where Ward gets his rock on letting the drums take front stage with a withdrawn infectious guitar lead that makes for a delirious pop delight.  

What makes these tracks standout is the integrity of their sound. There is a clear definition of one leading sound on these tracks. Other songs tend to take the low-fi approach which can be hit or miss. These songs can end up falling flat or muddied like “Oh, Lonesome” which misses a step on it’s lingering acoustic guitar and piano rhythm. Other tracks like “For Beginners,” which is a happy, summery, acoustic guitar melody extended just past two and a half minutes makes for an excellent opening number. 

Which really brings me to the real strength of this album. Most of these songs don’t extend themselves very far past the three-minute mark, which makes them feel more like brief jam sessions. This allows Ward to keep his songs very focused and it maintains an almost breezy and lightweight feel to the album. The songs themselves can probably be reduced to an acoustic guitar and still keep their musical-punch. With the exception of “Oh, Lonesome” which hits the the six minute mark and as a consequence feels as if it’s lost at times, the album has remarkable pacing. Which makes this album a gentle reminder of childhood summers - a blissfully short escape from the daily grind. 

Posted by Danny Lopez on Feb 26, 2009 @ 6:00 am