by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Portland singer-songwriter Matthew Ward is not yet 50, yet he has already racked up 12 solo albums in a prolific musical career. These are alongside his work as part of She & Him (with Zooey Deschanel), not to mention his Monsters Of Folk project.

The spirit of collaboration is prominent here too, for Supernatural Thing includes two tracks made with Swedish sister duo First Aid Kit, and a track each with Scott McMicken, Neko Case and Gabriel Kahane, Jim James and Kelly Pratt, and last but not least Shovels and Rope).

The album title is inspired by a childhood thought that radio airwaves are also used by messages from the supernatural – with music caught up in the crossfire. Ultimately the radio element is the crucial factor, celebrated here.

What’s the music like?

Winsome. Ward puts his listener at ease right from the amiable guitar strumming of Lifeline, the mood enhanced by his sotto voce delivery.

That’s not to say there is a lack of emotion here, however, and in the collaborations especially he finds poignant lyrical couplets and yearning harmonies. The husk of his tone fuses rather beautifully with First Aid Kit’s sharper insights, and in Too Young To Die they have made a song to stop the listener in their tracks. The more upbeat Engine 5 taps into the album’s theme, entreating the listener to “stay with me on the radio”.

Jim James and Kelly Pratt join for a late Bowie cover, I Can’t Give Everything Away taken from the Blackstar album, and fashioned with an appropriately doleful saxophone solo. Meanwhile Scott McMicken joins for a breezy, upbeat New Kerrang. Dedication Hour, with Neko Case and Gabriel Kahane, is enjoyably woozy.

It’s easy to sing along with or harmonise the solo songs, too, with the title track a prime example. Story Of An Artist, with which the album closes, is a reflective, softly voiced crooner.

Does it all work?

It does – the album hangs together really well, and its changing perspectives give it the feel of a radio program, which was almost certainly the intention.

Is it recommended?

It is. M. Ward’s output is remarkably consistent, and this is a strong addition to the discography. A breezy summer album, too!

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