M. Ward - Post-War

Genre rock Publisher Merge Records External Links Official M. Ward Website Official Merge Records Website

M. Ward is one of those musicians in which anyone who has ever heard his music even once probably loves him. Let's face it, he's a sensitive guy who wears his heart on his sleeve and he expresses himself with honest affection and old fashion bearing. What's not to love? The most impressive thing about M. Ward is when you take into consideration how easy it would be for him to continue making the same album over and over again, with his raspy voice, traditional folk lyrical content and all around vintage style; yet, the exact opposite is true - rather than every album sounding the same, they only continue to get better.

With his latest effort titled Post-War, this trend of slightly meticulous reinvention continues full throttle. This time, with just a few more instruments and a little help from old pals Neko Case and My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James, M. Ward creates a sound that is both becoming in his maturity as an artist and cultivated from the standpoint of any conventional production critique.

Although Post-War deals with basically the same formula as his previous four efforts in that it features beautiful songs about love and heartbreak, ("Chinese Translation"), funky quasi folk/surf fuzz instrumentals ("Neptune's Net") and existential potential singles (the title track), M. Ward has added a new variable to the equation: the almost arena jazzy folk song with tracks like "To Go Home" and "Magic Trick" that make you want to stomp your feet and bang on imaginary drums the way you did when you first heard "Big Boat" from Ward's Transistor Radio.

Overall, Post-War is one of those albums that you can just pop in your CD player and let it play. Just like on most of his previous LPs, there's not a single song worth missing. Also, in the tradition of M. Ward's earlier work, the album gets better with every listen; the true tell-tale sign of a great record.