M. Ward
's fifth proper album begins appropriately with the lyric "When you're absolute beginners, it's a panoramic view," a notion that the dusty Portland, OR-based
singer/songwriter
must be nostalgic for as his profile increases with each and every project. His 2008 collaboration with actress/singer/songwriter
Zooey Deschanel
as the producer, player, and arranger of
She & Him
helped to let the rest of the world in on what the low-key
folk
underground has been savoring since 2001's
End of Amnesia
. His penchant for sun-drenched West Coast vistas and timeless narratives that revel in
Tom Waits
-inspired Americana and non-dogmatic spirituality come full circle on
Hold Time
, a typical
Matt Ward
collection of laconic summer songs that could have safely appeared in any decade without suspicion of origin. Similar in scope to 2006's
Post-War
,
feels like a single performance, with songs fading out within inches of their successors, often holding true to both instrumentation and theme.
Ward
populates the project with a handful of guest appearances, though none gratuitous.
Deschanel
returns the favor on two cuts, a languid cover of the
Buddy Holly
classic
"Rave On"
and
"Never Had Nobody Like You,"
a straight-up
blues-rocker
that fuses a
Gary Glitter
backbeat to the skeleton of
nugget
"Requiem"
;
Grandaddy
mastermind
Jason Lytle
helps turn
"To Save Me"
into a lost
ELO
-produced
Beach Boys
rarity; and
Lucinda Williams
lends her sweetly graveled pipes to a lovely, expansive version of the
Don Gibson
weeper
"Oh Lonesome Me."
As always,
peppers the record with originals that sound like long-lost
Hank Williams
tunes (
"One Hundred Million Years"
"Shangri-La"
) and lush ballads that sound like they crawled out of an old safe deposit box. The title track in particular brings to mind
's English equal, ex-
Pulp
guitarist and ultra-cool retro-crooner
Richard Hawley
-- between the two of them, they've built a bridge between
indie
adult alternative rock
that positively reeks of class.
will do little to entice listeners for whom
's sepia-tone charm holds no sway, but for fans who have enjoyed the ride thus far, this looks like the sunniest stretch of road yet. ~ James Christopher Monger