4/5: M.Ward's Post-War strikes a perfect balance between pop sensibilities and social conscience. It is deservedly one of the most-acclaimed folk albums of the year.
It is normal to feel like today’s world is being torn apart with violence, wars, and general chaos. However, like many great artists, folksinger M.Ward views the strife as a chance to look beyond today and towards a better future.
With Post-War, Ward’s fifth studio effort, the New Hampshire-based singer/songwriter offers a strikingly introspective and ultimately uplifting portrait of our world. He fills his songs with tough questions and vivid ideas, such as in the record’s title track, when he invokes a series of nostalgic images. The effect is a dreamy, meandering ballad that could sooth the most restless, tormented modern soul.
This track is an a bit of an exception. Overall, the album’s tone is unabashedly upbeat. It opens with three fast-paced, bouncing tracks: “Poison Cup,” “To Go Home,” and “Right in the Head.” The last of these songs examines what it’s like to realize the limits of what we can teach others, and how ultimately those we care about have to live their own lives and make their own mistakes.
On this and other tracks, M.Ward’s music often resembles that of current popular sensation, Jack Johnson. The chord arrangements are simple and the melodies are undeniably catchy. Nevertheless, he is neither a clone or slave to popular whims. His lyrics have a subtly poetic strand and he is far more willing to experiment with interesting effects. This can be seen in tracks like “Requiem,” which starts out slowly and eventually rises to a thundering crescendo.
“Magic Trick,” which appears to have been recorded live, is a two-minute anthem that captures some of the same spontaneity and joy that can be found in John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance.”
Such comparisons may be shocking, but they are definitely not unwarranted. M.Ward had already established himself as one of this generation’s most important young songwriters. Post-War is guaranteed to bring him the far-reaching audience that his music deserves.
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