M. Ward - Hold Time

M. Ward - Hold Time

Genre: Reverse-cowgirl folk

M. Ward's past three albums (Post-War, Transistor Radio, Transfiguration of Vincent) have been nothing short of bodacious. In my mind, Mr. Ward can do no wrong.

But like most things in my life that seem to be damn near perfect (my myspace girlfriend, my recent large investment in Circuit City, Jeff Foxworthy's brand of Peppered Beef Jerky), M. Ward's newest album, Hold Time, is a bit of a disappointment. Maybe I should've expected that eventually M. Ward will produce something other than pure gold (also I should've expected the myspace girl to really be a 45 year old man, I should've known better than to take financial advice from a 3rd grader, I should've known anything Jeff Foxworthy is associated with is going to be god awful).

It's not to say that I don't enjoy Hold Time; opening track "For Beginners" is an immidiate success, only perhaps to be outdone by "Rave On." But regarding its feel as a whole album, Hold Time never accomplishes what his previous albums did, which unfortunately for M. Ward is not an easy task. The emotions are too scattered when they rarely do appear, the title track is far from whatever the rest of the album is trying to do, and overall its too rock 'n roll for my liking. Once the album is finished, you're left with this empty feeling - kind of like you were waiting and waiting for M. Ward to do something classically significant on the album, but it never ended up coming. Instead, it's probably off somewhere with your ex-girlfriend ordering drinks and appetizers at Red Lobster because one of its friends is the assistant manager and can probably get the two of them a nice discount.

M. Ward is at his best when he's riding on the simplicity of his hazy voice and cleverly flirtatious guitar work. "I'll Be Yr Bird," "Fool Says," and "Chinese Translation" are testaments to this. His previous albums always felt like they were something from a time long ago in a place far away yet so familiar. There was a certain exoticism to each of his albums. This album, although it has a handful of above average tracks, lacks that feel. It seems too ordinary. Maybe if I wasn't so familiar with M. Ward's previous work this album might feel a lot better, but it's only natural to compare.

If this album were a movie sequel it would be Might Ducks 3. And that is my rating.