Myusic in My Mind

So I happened upon M. Ward’s yet-to-be-released album Hold Time and couldn’t pass up giving it a listen. It comes out on the 17th and I’ll be sure to purchase it then. Fortunately, it’s well worth its price tag.

I remember as a kid being confused about the blues. I understood that it grew out of the Mississippi Delta, where poor former slaves sang about the troubles in their lives. As I listened to Elmore James, Willie Dixon and anyone else the Allmans ever covered, I could hear the sadness and the passion in their voices. Yet strangely, it didn’t bring me down. So it left me confused. How could they tell these sad stories, yet sound so uplifting?

I suppose I’ve learned since that how they did it isn’t really the point. They sang like that, because they needed to. And folks listened for the same reason. This is the power of music.

I bring all of this to the table so I can properly discuss Hold Time, M. Ward’s latest offering. Many of the songs in this album deal with the traditional topics of the blues: death, loneliness and dependency. Yet like a great bluesman (or folkie), M. Ward knows how to treat these subjects with the master’s pen, feeling their weight, but lifting their burden. As a result, like the bluesmen I heard growing up, M. Ward’s discussion of pain and fear alleviates both.

It wouldn’t be appropriate to say this album sounds like anything other than an M. Ward album. He’s earned that. Better, I suppose, is to say that this album of indie folk songs demonstrates all he’s learned from Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash and the rest of those early country rockers. However, like them, his music deserves to be described with adjectives, rather than categorized by them.

Many songs stand out on this album. “Stars of Leo” examines the emotional turmoil of lost love and that special loneliness you feel in the middle of a crowd. “Blake’s View” offers a contemplation on the transience of life and death. Other standouts include the gorgeous “Shangri-La” and his cover of Buddy Holly’s “Rave On.” I have to say, M. Ward’s version does not have the Cocktail-inspired kick of John Mellencamp’s, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Also fun are “To Save Me,” which is built on the same chasis as “Ce La Vie,” and “Never Had Nobody Like You,” which manages to reference both “Rock ‘n Roll: Part 2″ and “Reelin’ in the Years,” all in the first 10 seconds.

So, all told, I dug this album. I recommend it. It’s not going to change your world, but give it a few listens and you’ll find some of those blues just start melting away.