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M. Ward returns with his eighth solo album, More Rain, which will be released on March 4, 2016 via Merge Records. PRESS HERE to stream Ward's new single "Girl From Conejo Valley," which is a nostalgic trot through people he used to know and a place he used to be.
Having
spent the last decade-and-a-half based in the perennially damp
Portland, Oregon, the singer-songwriter and producer has learned how to
shine through the soggy gloom by simply embracing its inevitability.
With his new album More Rain, Ward has made a true
gotta-stay-indoors, rainy-season record that looks upwards through the
weather while reflecting on his past.
"I
think one of the biggest mysteries of America right now is this: How
are we able to process unending bad news on Page One and then go about
our lives the way the Style section portrays us?" says Ward. "There
must be a place in our brains that allows us to take a bird's-eye view
of humanity, and I think music is good at helping people-myself
included-go to that place."
This album finds Ward picking up the tempo and volume a bit from his previous release, 2012's A Wasteland Companion. Where that record introspectively looked in from the outside, More Rain finds
Ward on the inside, gazing out. Begun four years ago and imagined
initially as a DIY doo-wop album that would feature Ward experimenting
with layering his own voice, it soon branched out in different
directions, a move that he credits largely to his collaborators here who
include R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Neko Case, k.d. lang, The Secret Sisters, and Joey Spampinato of
NRBQ. The result is a collection of upbeat, sonically ambitious yet
canonically familiar songs that both propel Ward's reach and satisfy
longtime fans.
Ward has released a string of acclaimed solo albums over the past several years, along with five LPs with Zooey Deschanel as She & Him and a 2009 collaborative album with My Morning Jacket's Jim James and Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis under the moniker Monsters of Folk.
In addition to his celebrated work as a musician, Ward is an
accomplished producer, handling those duties for such luminaries as
Mavis Staples, Jenny Lewis, and Carlos Forster as well as his own
musical projects.
MORE RAIN
- More Rain
- Pirate Dial
- Time Won't Wait
- Confession
- I'm Listening (Child's Theme)
- Girl from Conejo Valley
- Slow Driving Man
- You're So Good To Me
- Temptation
- Phenomenon
-
Little Baby
- I'm Going Higher
Pre-order More Rain on CD or LP in the Merge store. The first 750 pre-orders will received a limited edition translucent red vinyl. Pre-order the album digitally via iTunes.
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