Hello everyone! It's been a while and I'm sorry for that but I'm back with a great new album from one of my all time favorites, Alt.-Country-Folk superstar, M. Ward. His new album, Hold Time, is his first solo album since the creation of his side project She and Him, and I think it shows. The songs on this album feel a little brighter and a little crisper. There are some really great tracks on this album and it's a lot of fun to listen to. This album definitely sounds more produced than his previous albums but it doesn't take to much away from the usual rawness found in his music. The music sounds much more put together and without any space between the parts of the songs. I know that sounds like a good thing but I prefer M. Ward with the Lo Fi recordings and scratchy instruments. There are some really awesome tracks on this album though including Rave On, Never Had Nobody Like You (both featuring the other half of She and Him, Zooey Deschanel) and One Hundred Million Years. The best song on the album however, is Oh Lonesome Me, featuring Lucinda Williams. This song is really fantastic and full of emotion. The combination between the two of them singing is really powerful and a pleasure to listen to.
On Hold Time, M. Ward takes a new approach to his music. Instead of songs filled with heart ache, loneliness and folky guitar, the songs on this album are much happier and peppier. But as much as I like his new found happiness, I'm missing the classic M. Ward that he displayed so beautifully on albums like the Transfiguration of Vincent or Post-War. I think Hold Time has some really nice tracks and I definitely think the album was worth my $9.99 but in the end I'm going to give this album 3/5 stars. If you don't know M. Ward well, don't start with this album but I don't think fans will be too disappointed.
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