M. Ward - Hold Time

Hold Time stands at 5’ 8”. She has tumbling auburn hair, wears a frail sash emblazoned with her country of origin, and stands on the catwalk with a grin as wide as M. Ward’s fretboard. Much like a hard-body contender for a beauty pageant du jour, competent folk albums strut with the assurance that they are the prettiest and the most deserving of your flirtations. However, M. Ward’s sixth album is more than a pretty face: a deftly romantic style of lyricism that meets whimsy with a mature world view supplements Hold Time's snappy percussion and rich acoustic tugs. Despite a nod to Buddy Holly on Rave On (a misnomer if ever there was one), there are flecks of modernity, most evident in the cloudy violins of the title track and the starlit keyboard plonks of Stars of Leo. Hold Timeis the rarest of things; a beauty queen with heart. [Ray Philp]