April 9, 2012

Review: “Sweetheart,” by M. Ward


TRACK 4

“Sweetheart”

From M. Ward’s A Wasteland Companion

MERGE

Liner notes: Campy yet heartfelt, “Sweetheart,” a charming departure from M. Ward’s usual brooding folk rock, features actress-singer Zooey Deschanel in a soaring duet blending ’50s teen pop, Beatlesesque guitars, and grand production flourishes à la Phil Spector.

Behind the music: Matthew Stephen Ward of Portland, Oregon, has been a busy lad over the last decade, playing with Deschanel as half of She & Him and joining My Morning Jacket’s Jim James and Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst in Monsters of Folk.

Check it out if you like: John Vanderslice, Bon Iver, and other old-school-style troubadours for modern times.

“Sweetheart” isn’t online yet, but here’s “Primitive Girl,” another song from A Wasteland Companion.

 

 

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

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