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Album Details

• Artist: M Ward
• Album: Transfiguration of Vincent
• Label: Merge
• Year of Release: 2003
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2003-06-16

Merge, who always has their ear to the underground, caught on to M. Ward's hot trail. After 2001's amazing End of Amnesia (see below), the fine folks at Merge thought that M. Ward deserved a bigger distribution and signed him on. He actually gained a lot of fans opening for Bright Eyes on tour last year. Transfiguration of Vincent is Ward's first for Merge and third full-length in total. His songwriting has improved once again and the heart he exudes is bigger than ever. There seems to be a timeless quality to his music, one that makes it almost seem like it's ancient but it's still so fresh. M. Ward sounds like Sparklehorse but not near as experimental. In fact, Transfiguration sounds like a folk album in all it's glory. A folk album but still maintaining pop qualities. It's a fine line between the two and more than not we find artists straddling that line like Ward. His voice is the draw and on Vincent there is so much to be drawn to. Songs are written just like he's there experiencing every little detail. Even on his cover of Bowie's "Let's Dance" he doesn't let down the acoustic guitar. It's bloody amazing. This track alone warrants the purchase of this album. It has to be one of the best and most innocent covers ever. I would say that M. Ward would have a hard time topping this album but I think that he is here to stay and that it is going to be an interesting career to watch.

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