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The title of M. Ward's fifth full-length, POST-WAR, begs the question, post which war? From early 20th-century folk blues to Tin Pan Alley hooks to the various indie-rock schools of the early 2000s, Ward's music works as a suitable elegy for the wounded and dead from across the landscape of American history. Equipped with a voice that is at once rough-hewn and tender, Ward sings about trials of the heart and the soul with a lyrical approach that is touching, evocative, and poetically cryptic. And while his songs can recall the rustic, bluesy charm of a train-hopping troubadour ("Rollercoaster;" "Requiem"), lush studio touches, including a lovely use of reverb (particularly on the haunting opener "Poison Cup" ), and guest appearances from new-fangled roots artists such as Neko Case and My Morning Jacket's Jim James mark the album as very much of its era. POST-WAR places Ward at the vanguard of the ever-evolving Americana musical tradition, with one foot in the past and another in a future all its composer's own.
Personnel: M. Ward (vocals, guitars, keyboards); Jim James, Neko Case (vocals); Amanda Lawrence (violin, viola); Skip VonKuske (cello, background vocals); Mike Coykendall, Jordan Hudson, Rachel Blumberg (drums); Mike Mogis (timpani).
Rolling Stone (p.94) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "His smoky, seductive warble recalls Devendra Banhart and a less-grizzled Tom Waits..."
Spin (p.113) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "POST-WAR brings a welcome grandeur to Ward's honeyed rasp and nimble guitar picking."
Spin (p.56) - Ranked #38 in Spin's "The 40 Best Albums of 2006" -- "Ward's tender folk ballads...get to the heart of both tragedy and optimism."
Entertainment Weekly (p.77) - "[There is] a lustrous but low-key grace to the arrangements....Ward's talents have never been more persuasively showcased." -- Grade: A
Entertainment Weekly (p.131) - Ranked #10 in Entertainment Weekly's "Top 10 Records Of 2006" -- "Ward's drowsy vocals and acoustic fingerpicking now ring clear as a mountaintop stream."
Uncut (p.133) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "POST-WAR addresses a world in flux, by turns nostalgic and bitter....He sounds newly liberated on 'Chinese Translation' and a Neko Case-abetted cover of Daniel Johnston's 'To Go Home'..."
Magnet (p.109) - "[T]he subtle ebb and flow of POST-WAR makes for the most mature and cohesive set of songs in Ward's catalog."
CMJ (p.5) - "Mixing guarded, eerie vocals with strummed, old-time folk and blues orchestrations, M. Ward is part Wyoming cowpoke..."
No Depression (p.124) - "In his attic, Ward also discover a few other treasures. With the warm, bashful smile of a man who likes to share, he dusts them off, makes them shine, and hands them over to the listener."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.111) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's a rich, bright sounding record, albeit etched with Ward's lyrical ruefulness and voice of crumbling, lugubrious regret." M Ward Post-War Songs | 1. | Poison Cup | |
| 2. | To Go Home | |
| 3. | Right in the Head | |
| 4. | Post-War | |
| 5. | Requiem | |
| 6. | Chinese Translation | |
| 7. | Eyes on the Prize | |
| 8. | Magic Trick | |
| 9. | Neptune's Next | |
| 10. | Rollercoaster | |
| 11. | Today's Undertaking | |
| 12. | Afterword/Rag | |
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Post-War Review
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