M. Ward
More Rain

Album Release Date: March 4th, 2016

Recording artist Matthew Ward, most known for his solo work as M. Ward and as one half of soft indie-pop duo She & Him (along with Zooey Deschanel), has proven himself as a singer-songwriter of high caliber. Songs like the incredible "Chinese Translation" from his 5th album Post-War (2006) showcase qualities that rival some of the best folk-rock works ever made, reminiscent of the likes of Desire-era Bob Dylan with his emotional odes and storytelling abilities. Ward's professional merit has steadily risen over the years, reaching a creative peak with Post-War that the two following albums sustained. But with his 8th album More Rain, the 42-year-old Ward shows the first signs of his upward creative trajectory slowing down.

Ward's best past albums resonate as absorbing tapestries of rock'n'roll stylings, varieties of aurally-rich musical potency offered through slow songs and rocking guitar jams alike. But More Rain largely supplants these earlier album qualities with an even-tempered collection of some of the softest songs in Ward's recent repertoire. That's not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, since most of his albums feature some very fine, emotionally resonant slow numbers. But they're usually contrasted by just as many more upbeat tracks. More Rain favours the mellow, and as the title implies, is perhaps best listened to indoors on a rainy day.

A few marginally heavier, rockin' songs punctuate the album's twelve tracks, but none of them, whether uptempo or downtempo or midrange, are truly great. I tried to find one song on More Rain that I could claim was awesome and perhaps comparable to nearly any track from Ward's excellent previous album A Wasteland Companion (2012) or his masterpiece Post-War, and listened to the album several times with an open mind in the hopes that perhaps it was the type of record that would grow on me. What emerged is the lone album highlight "Slow Driving Man" which, when listened to in the car, made me want to do just that—drive slow. But even it registers as mediocre when compared to Ward's previous best songs.

But that's not to say it's a horrible album by any means—just not the top-notch blend of guitar-based folk, country, indie- and retro-rock that Ward's exhibited in the past. A little too overtly placid and unenthused, it all too often borders on excessive sentimentality and occasionally almost cheesy pop-rock. There aren't really any outright bad tracks, but no exceptional ones either.

As usual there are a few guest musicians featured, most notably Neko Case and k.d. lang, and while their vocal duets with Ward are among the few high points, they're not enough to elevate the album beyond average status. Since forming She & Him with Deschanel in 2006, this is the first Ward solo album that hasn't featured her on at least one track. She & Him's last two albums are also rather boring in contrast to their first two excellent ones, so I can't help but wonder if not only M. Ward's creativity is waning, but perhaps also Zooey's, and as such their collaborations as well.

I hope that Ward will be able to recover his previous high level of songwriting on future works, and that this is just a one-off miss. On the other hand, if this album does indeed signal the beginning of a downward creative slope for Ward, at least he's left us with a solid catalogue of outstanding works, many of which border on sheer musical brilliance. For listeners not familiar with M. Ward, or those who've maybe liked a song or two of his but not really explored his work in much detail, I would recommend not listening to More Rain as a starting point. It would only likely turn you off from him, and as such you'd miss out on the rest of his excellent body of work.
• Nik Dobrinsky / Boy Drinks Ink
May 10th, 2016