Event Information

Several times, as I listened to M. Wards Supernatural Thing, I asked myself what year it was. Was it 1952, and was I listening to a track from the Harry Smith Anthology? Was it 1972, and was I eavesdropping on the recording session for After the Gold Rush? No, its 2023, and M. Ward is one of the special contemporary artists who invite such questions. Ward has clearly mastered the whole vocabulary of American popular music and made serious decisions about how to employ it for his own ends. What Ward shares with Harry Smiths artists and Neil Young is a context of musical and human values: authenticity and intimacy. Supernatural Things original songs sound freshly pulled from the ground, with a little earth sticking to them. Wards lyric delivery has that slight rawness the ear loves, and his voice has quiet dignity and great tenderness. Supernatural Thing is an open-hearted, inviting album. The albums guest stars First Aid Kit, Shovels enliven the album with surprises. On Too Young to Die ...