>>PREVIEW
M. WARD
Saturday, July 22
Ironwood
Alongside singers like Neko Case and Tom Waits, M. Ward exists in that rare camp of modern musician whose voice, music and outlook carry a timeless quality that extends across the annals of popular music. Easily described as golden (you might also say dulcet or smoky), Ward’s timbre ranges from sandpaper gruff to stone-smooth falsetto within a single phrase.
Harking back to the classic songsmiths of the radio age (with a dash of Harry Smith’s infamous American folk field recordings), Ward’s records offer a wealth of note-perfect character portraits in miniature so classic, one could almost mistake them for a collection of re-interpreted spirituals and traditionals.
Ward’s spotless fifth album Post War expands his palette to epic proportions. The elegiac "Today’s Undertaking" flirts with heartbreak ennui and Asian orchestral strings, while the instrumental "Neptune’s Net" seems well-suited as a New Year’s anthem to welcome in the rock ’n’ roll 1950s. "Rollercoaster’s" lazy 1920s backroom shuffle captures the very end of the night (just as the sun’s already peeking up over the neighbour’s rooftop), and "Magic Trick" matches Ward’s yelps with a crowd’s applause to tell the rousing singalong tale of a woman who’s "got one magic trick / just one and that’s it / she disappears!"
Ward’s last album Transistor Radio spoke of a revolution on the airwaves, mourning the loss of radio’s place in the hearts of listeners (a veritable audio equivalent to Robert Altman’s A Prairie Home Companion). Post War, on the other hand, takes on the current state of America through the window of Ward’s Portland attic in which it was recorded.
"I think of the title as a chronological backdrop," Ward says. "It means different things to different people – the way you define the word ‘war’ changes based also on how old you are. I love the idea that this will be the last war we ever have to fight."
Ward’s anti-war stance (not to mention approval of high-ranking musician fans including The White Stripes, for whom he opened on their last tour) saw him invited to participate on the Vote For Change tour alongside Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M. and Bright Eyes. The political role for an artist, however, remains a territory of uncertain answers.
"I think it depends on the artist," he says. "With a lot of artists, anything political is the last thing you’d want to hear from them. I can’t say whether or not it’s an artist’s duty, but I feel we’re in a time of crisis."
However, while Ward’s songs may be grand and sweeping, his political statements aren’t.
"I’m getting very tired of the White House’s response to the war. Headlines should be focused around the individuals whose death affects families and communities. In the way I look at it, that’s the most severe tragedy," Ward says.
"The best things I’ve read about the war have had very little to do with the political side, focusing instead on the human side of war. Whether it’s the artist’s job to remind us of that, I don’t know. It’s just the most practical thing to do – it seems like a no-brainer."
Of his main concerns in songwriting, the biggest element for Ward is that of time – timelessness, time to reflect and time well spent.
"Records have the ability to present extremely wide spans of time. I love it when a record can span five or six generations the way an epic novel can. I look up to that," Ward says.
One of his songwriting strengths is his pitch-perfect role as observer, the near-constant use of the third person forming mini-movies of loss and longing. His true inspiration, however, hits a little closer to home.
"I do use a lot of third person. It’s hard to say, but a lot of things are about me. A lot of the time things come out and I’m not sure why or how," he admits. "I’m not dying to find out either. It’s far more interesting to find out others’ ideas." |
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