M Ward - Hold Time (4AD)
4/5
By: Liam Manley
Matt Ward returns to his abreviated form, armed with songs as romantic and romanticised as the roses that adorn its flaked paint cover.
While his recent She & Him collaboration with Zooey Deschanel may have brought the attention of a wider audience, Hold Time finds Ward channelling other inspirations. Side-stepping the mid-60s affectations of S&H's Volume 1, preferring instead the southern twang of Ry Cooder's early solo work and the soft-eyed Dylanisms of Nashville Skyline.
However, Hold Time isn't entirely distanced from that last project, with Deschanel's double-tracked sweetness chiming in on the endearingly simple 1-2-3, A-B-C chorus of 'Never Had Nobody Like You', her excitable yeah-yeah's particularly enticing. Although clearly not adverse to the odd cliche (see the "dark side of the moon" of 'Never Had...'and the "sea of love" of 'Stars Of Leo'), Ward does address wider issues, including Adam and Eve's original sin ('Absolute Beginners'); piety ('Epistemology'); mortality ('Blake's View') and redemption ('Jailbird'). The arrangements are deceptive, in particular 'Stars Of Leo', with its initial backing of electric piano and ever-present acoustic thrum giving way to insistent handclaps and church bells, arriving like a rushing train.
Already noted for his bold cover choices, with David Bowie, Daniel Johnston, and The Beach Boys receiving Ward's particular brand of folksy refashionment, Hold Time follows in this tradition. Buddy Holly's 'Rave On' is re-fitted as country gospel, resplendant with train whistle guitars and a languid strum.The closing instrumental version of 'I'm A Fool To Want You', simply titled 'Outro', is more redolent of Cooder's latter work, with Hispanic inflections and Badalamenti quiver.
A third cover, 'Oh Lonesome Me', is a country standard I'm familiar with in various forms, from a sombre, melodic Neil Young to a p!ssed-up and hooting Gene Vincent. However, re-interpreted by Ward as a lengthy and morose drag, guest Lucinda Williams' ashtray vocals can do little to salvage the dirge.
Seemingly at first a welcome, if slight, distraction, Hold Time soon blossoms into something much more nourishing: from what sounds antiquated yet gilt-edged, a glow radiates, free from ill will, bitterness or resentment. Something incredibly rare indeed, particularly in this time of reduced circumstance.
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