Modern day folk hero M. Ward has had a very prolific couple of decades. Aside from his own solo career, Ward has teamed up with a slew of other artists the past twenty years. He has put out six albums with Zooey Deschanel as She & Him, performed with other indie folk-rock heroes in supergroup Monsters of Folk, and collaborated with multiple artists including Jenny Lewis, Neko Case, Cat Power and My Morning Jacket among others. The release of Migration Stories will be the tenth solo album from Ward and the most cohesive in terms of a narrative. The album finds Ward bringing in stories from friends, newspapers clippings, and his own family history to build the album around the concept of migration.
While the narrative of the album is cohesive, the overall contents are extremely varied. From the synthy single “Unreal City” to the instrumental “Stevens Snow Man”, to his cover of the cowboy ballad “Along the Sante Fe Trail”, Ward treats listeners to an array of different sounds. This might be because to record Migration Stories, M. Ward traveled to Quebec, where he worked with Arcade Fire members Tim Kingsbury and Richard Parry, as well as their producer, Craig Silvey. The resulting record sounds as sleek and professional as any indie rock album, while not sacrificing Ward’s acoustically driven, twangy melodies. “Migration of Souls” opens the record with familiar, warming guitar tones paired with Ward’s uniquely languid and hazy vocals that serve to create a dreamy opening soundscape. “Heaven’s Nail and Hammer” then takes a different approach, and although still wrapped in a blanket of western acoustic guitar and classic twang, we’re also treated to intermittent, bluesy guitars and rhythms that dance around the melody.
Migration Stories is a bright sounding album that draws on Ward’s skills in creating a warm and beaming atmosphere, even if the lyrics are the direct opposite. Gentle songs and tender vocals transport the listener to a world where anything is possible. While the production of the album might sound a bit more polished than past releases, it is still unmistakably M. Ward’s sound and bound to be a favorite with fans.
Photo credit: Wrenne Evans
