Probably my favorite album of the year so far, M. Ward’s “Hold Time,” hits stores today. It follows a now-long line of impressive releases by the Portland, Ore.-based singer/songwriter/guitar-wiz, who some of you may know from his tours with Norah Jones and Conor Oberst or his collaboration last year with actress Zooey Deschanel (She & Him). That line of albums started with 2003’s “Transfiguration of Vincent” (earlier works were just OK) and it includes my favorite, 2006’s “Post-War.”

Besides his plainly great, playful songwriting talent, the most charming thing about Ward’s records (including the She & Him disc) is the vast array of styles he crams onto them. On the new album, the songs range from the glam-rock-ish “Never Had Nobody Like You” to the Phil Spector/girl-group doo-woppy “To Save Me” to a rollicking cover of Buddy Holly’s “Rave On” to a beautiful mournful dirge with Lucinda Williams, “Oh Lonesome Me.” Amid all that, though, Ward’s gargling vocals and sly guitar parts are so distinctive, it all sounds cohesive and one-of-a-kind. 

Ward is bound for First Ave on April 25. You’ll want to be there once you hear this record.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 at 5:25 pm and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.