M.Ward from Portland, Oregon plays the kind of music that should be a staple on every radio station's play list. His homely songs are upbeat and catchy without being banal or brashly commercial.
Ward's Transistor Radio from 2005 revealed a mindset that was more in tune with old-fashioned wireless sets than digital streaming sites. This was an homage to the analogue era when, with a turn of the dial, you could discover a song that would make you feel good for the rest of the day. The cover image of More Rain, a cross between a radio and a guitar fret board, indicates that his tendency towards nostalgia still prevails.
The record, his eighth solo release, was imagined initially as a sequence of DIY doo-wop numbers and hints of this idea can still be heard on I'm Listening, Little Baby and You're So Good To Me ("You're my baby! Don't mean maybe!").
In the end, however, he decided on a wider sweep so while the retro elements are still evident, there is also a nice variety of styles and moods. In this he has been helped by an impressive list of collaborators who include R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, Neko Case and K.D. Lang.
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This means that an uplifting number ,Girl From Conejo Valley, happily rubs shoulders with the soulful crooning of Slow Driving Man which features a beautiful string arrangement.
The album opens with one minute recording of an actual rainstorm but the songs are designed to make you put aside the 'rainy stories' that we are constantly subjected to on the news.
Ward says: “There must be a place in our brains that allows us to take a bird’s-eye view of humanity, and I think music is good at helping people—myself included—go to that place”
More Rain won't make all the dark clouds disappear but should go some way to help you face the stormy weather with a smile on your face.
M.Ward's website
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