Las Vegas Weekly

[Folk]

M. Ward

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M. Ward

Zooey Deschanel, the larger-eyed half of M. Ward’s high-profile indie-pop duo She & Him, appears on two of the comparatively sunnier tracks on her cohort’s sixth album. Yet the results come across less as orphaned B-sides than corner pieces of a dust-covered puzzle retrieved from a forgotten attic. Contributions from former Grandaddy mastermind Jason Lytle (the noticeably upbeat showpiece “To Save Me”) and Lucinda Williams (a gorgeously morose cover of Don Gibson’s “Oh Lonesome Me”) complete the picture, though it’s ultimately far from a vivid one.

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Ward continues his exploration of predominantly hushed, hazily rendered folk soundscapes, adding existential grip to worn alt-country roots with pervading themes of faith and loneliness. His world is one woefully ruled by perception rather than timeless truths; it seems he can only put his trust in the titular “Stars of Leo,” the disc’s exquisitely conflicted highlight.

A spacey take on Buddy Holly’s “Rave On” and the optimistic “Never Had Nobody Like You,” which sports a sun-dappled groove straight out of “Reelin’ in the Years,” can merely shepherd Ward through the night. Ultimately his melancholy and ceaseless quest for religious and emotional salvation remains, but in the meantime, he gets by with a little help from his friends.