M. Ward
Matthew Stephen "M." Ward (born October 4, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Glendale, California. Ward's solo work is a mixture of folk and blues-inspired Americana analog recordings. He has released 10 studio albums since 1999, primarily through the independent label Merge Records. In addition to his solo work, he is a member of indie pop duo She & Him and folk-rock supergroup Monsters of Folk, and also participates in recording, producing, and playing with multiple other artists.
For other people named M. Ward, see Ward (surname) § M.
M. Ward
Matthew Stephen Ward
M. Ward
October 4, 1973
Glendale, California, U.S.
- Singer-songwriter
- guitarist
1999–present
Early life[edit]
Ward was raised in Glendale, California, and moved to Portland, Oregon, after college.[1] Growing up, Ward taught himself songs by the Beatles on his brother's guitar, and began recording demos on a four-track analog tape recorder when he was about fifteen.[2] Ward continues to record only analog, and starts all of his songs as demos on the same recorder he has had since his teens.[2]
Solo recordings[edit]
Duets for Guitars #2 and End of Amnesia (1999–2001)[edit]
Ward's solo debut, Duet for Guitars #2, was released by Co-Dependent Records in 1999, then reissued by Howe Gelb's Ow Om record label in 2000.[3] Described by Joshua Klein of Pitchfork as "ragged and lo-fi ... recorded on a shoestring and not necessarily worse for it",[4] Duet for Guitars #2 soon went out of print for a second time, before being reissued by Merge in 2007.[3]
Ward's second album, End of Amnesia, was put out by Future Farmer Records and Loose Music (Europe) in 2001. In a retrospective review, Ryan Kearney of Pitchfork compared the album to a contemporary band, Sparklehorse, saying that "both Linkous and Ward are country-and folk-influenced artists who scratch unavoidable, but nominally disruptive marks on the traditional blueprint".[5] Sparklehorse had released It's a Wonderful Life to critical acclaim earlier in the year.
A collection of live recordings, Live Music & The Voice of Strangers, was a self-released disc that was sold at his shows in 2001.
Transfiguration of Vincent and Transistor Radio (2003–05)[edit]
Ward released his third album, Transfiguration of Vincent, on Merge Records in 2003 to critical success. Transfiguration of Vincent received a weighted average score of 82 out of 100 by review aggregator website Metacritic, based on 13 critical reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[6] The title alludes to the 1965 album The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death by John Fahey, and refers to the life and death of Vincent O'Brien, a close friend to Ward.[7] Fahey's pre-war style of folk music and production techniques, using basic equipment and simple arrangements, greatly influenced Ward's own sound and recording practices.[7]
Transistor Radio, Ward's fourth album, was released on Merge in 2005, and he served as the opening act for The White Stripes that fall.[8] The album consists of Ward's own compositions as well as three covers, The Beach Boys' "You Still Believe in Me", Carmen Lombardo's pop standard "Sweethearts on Parade", and Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier". Transistor Radio received a score of 78 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[9] Josh Terry of Consequence of Sound, writing of Transistor Radio in 2014, described the album as "one of the finer examples of ramshackle and intimate mid-aughts folk."[10] A writer for Alternative Press, however, said that "Most of Ward's quiet, contemporary folk songs are mere sketches, mediocre if not unmemorable."[11] Transistor Radio was reissued by Merge in December 2014 with four previously unreleased tracks.[10]
Post-War and Hold Time (2006–09)[edit]
In August 2006, Ward released Post-War on Merge Records. Post-War was Ward's first album with a full backing band, with players including Howe Gelb, Jim James, and Neko Case. Post-War was described by Vanity Fair in its August 2006 issue as thematic on the question "How will America heal once this craziness in Iraq is over?" Ward said in that article that he looked to the post-war music of the late 1940s and 1950s. "I had the naive, simplistic idea that producers and writers and artists of the time helped in a minuscule way to change the mind-set of America." In addition to this inspired material, the album also contains a cover of Daniel Johnston's "To Go Home", which was subsequently re-released on the To Go Home EP in 2007. A critical success, Post-War received "universal acclaim" of 81 out of 100, aggregated by Metacritic[12] and reached No. 146 on Billboard's Top 200.[13] Ward spent most of 2007 touring with Norah Jones in support of the album, as well as occasionally playing in Norah's touring band, "The Handsome Band". Ward played on Jones's 2007 release Not Too Late.
Hold Time, the followup to Post-War, was released on Merge in February 2009. Hold Time includes guest performances by Jason Lytle of the band Grandaddy, Lucinda Williams, Tom Hagerman of DeVotchKa, and She & Him co-contributor Zooey Deschanel. The album includes a cover of the Buddy Holly song "Rave On!" Described by Autumn De Wilde Entertainment Weekly as "[feeling] timeless, a musical wanderer's dusty, train-hopping tour through folk, blues, and country,"[14] Hold Time received an aggregated 79 out of 100 on Metacritic, for "generally favorable reviews"[15] and reached No. 31 on Billboard's Top 200.[13]
A Wasteland Companion and More Rain (2012–present)[edit]
After several years of touring and releasing albums with pop project She & Him and folk supergroup Monsters of Folk, Ward released his seventh studio album, A Wasteland Companion, in 2012 on Merge and Bella Union. Reaching number 21 in the US charts,[13] A Wasteland Companion received an aggregated score of 75 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[16] Will Hermes of Rolling Stone gave the album 3.5 of 5 stars, reflective of the aggregated score, and commented that "[A Wasteland Companion] is his most vivid and varied yet, full of exquisite guitar work,...gem-like songcraft...and inspired covers."[17] Matthew McFarland of Prefix offered the criticism, "What's missing, though, is the familiar sense of deft control over the album's arc, the lyrical intrigues, and the instrumental detail that make his other work so indispensable [sic] to the indie folk canon of last decade."[18]
After another multi-year break from solo recording, M. Ward released his eighth album, More Rain, on March 4, 2016, via Merge[19] and Bella Union.[20] Ward began working on More Rain in 2012, initially experimenting with layering his own vocals to create a doo-wop record. After collaborating with other artists on the record such as R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, k.d. lang, Neko Case, and others, the sound of the album went in a different direction, described as a "true gotta-stay-indoors, rainy-season record that looks upwards through the weather while reflecting on his past."[21]
On June 8, 2018, Ward self-released What a Wonderful Industry, his ninth studio album. Using a variety of anecdotes and metaphors, the album examines the complex challenges of working within the cutthroat music industry. As Ward stated in an interview with NPR, "You quickly learn there's a perfectly imperfect balance of cold-blooded and warm-blooded animals in the zoo....This record visits the most memorable characters. There's a lot of very inspirational people I've had the pleasure to work with but there are also a few I wish I'd never met."[22]
Ward's tenth studio album, Migration Stories, was released on April 3, 2020, on Anti Records.[23] Later that year, Ward released Think of Spring which features songs originally recorded by Billie Holiday. In June 2023, Anti Records released Ward's twelfth solo album Supernatural Thing.