Hot off the presses, M. Ward's new album explores a variety of genres within this one album. Probably one of the best-named albums I've seen in a while,
Wasteland Companion manages to make you feel both warm and fuzzy and hopelessly nostalgic. It has hints of M. Ward's signature folksy sound, while pulling from his success in She & Him (his project with the lovely Zooey Deschanel), and even slowing it down with less-melodic electric guitar/echo combinations.
The album begins with a typical M. Ward kind of song, "Clean Slate", followed by the only single from the album, "Primitive Girl". It's interesting to note that the version-released for the single is about a minute shorter, and the ending included on the album seems to foreshadow the feel of the second half of the album. Zooey Deschanel joins him in two songs, "Me and My Shadow", which has a very True Blood-esque southern rock feel, and "Sweetheart", which distinctly draws from a 60s surf sound (think Beach Boys).
In the middle of the song for which the album is named, "A Wasteland Companion", the tone of the album abruptly changes. From happy choruses about starting over and sweethearts, the album jumps to a suddenly hollow, haunting feel, which is mirrored by the lyrics of the rest of the songs on the album.
My personal favorite off of the album, though, has to be "Crawl After You". Starting with a simple piano intro, M. Ward's voice pairs perfectly with the basic accompaniment, while a slow violin crescendo leads to my favorite point of this whole album, the folk fiddle solo. Towards the end of the track, an electric guitar mixes with the violin and to eventually close out the song. The violin solo, which is a tune every child who plays the fiddle learns at some point or another (believe me, I learned it, too) and the piano, with it's Charlie Brown Christmas-like anthem, highlight the lyrics, which talk about the pain of longing for his past love. The addition of the electric guitar gives the "wasteland" feel from the album, and create a futuristic-sentimental partnership.
Best songs: "Crawl After You", "Me and My Shadow"
Best listened to while: writing in a journal, sitting next to a lake, walking through a place you once knew well
