Duet for Guitars sounds like it was recorded on a cassette tape in Matt Ward’s basement. You can hear the old-fashioned hiss of the tape, you can sense the lonesome intimacy of a heartfelt musician playing for his guitar; and you wouldn’t be surprised if you heard his mom calling for him to come up for dinner. This is lo-fi, by lack of resources.
However, there is much more to this album than the hip-ness of accidental lo-fi, although what separates it from the pack is not immediately apparent.
The record is Matt’s (who records as M. Ward) debut album. It has been re-released in 2007 to supplement his growing popularity. A popularity that he, in part, owes to his friend Connor Oberst, AKA Bright Eyes, who in 2004 announced at the end of his performance, “M. Ward for president!” on the Late, Late Show with Craig Kilborn.
The other part of his success is due to crafty, seemingly carefree, summer songs.
The album opens with a clever instrumental ditty. “Duet for Guitars #2” is a down-tempo track that seems to sufficiently prepare the listener for the rest of the record. There are other wordless songs that are infused and they are gorgeous in their own right, but they also work well as transitional pieces.
Nevertheless, all of the tunes seem to pour from M. Ward’s heart. On “Good News”, he sings, “When I forget how to cry/I see you out alone at night/My heart explodes in light in sky/And I want to close my eyes”.
“Beautiful Car” is a terrific song that gets away with partnering lighthearted adolescent memories (“It was a baby blue ’52 Roadstar/It was a beautiful car”) with tragedy (“That was the night I heard of the fighting and the murder of the schoolmaster’s son”).
It is here - in the lyrics - where the album surprises you. As light as these songs sound on the surface, the words can weigh you down and pull you back up - all the while keeping a smile on your face.
On Duets for Guitar, M. Ward has succeeded in painting pictures of two amazing worlds; one hopelessly flawed and one perfectly beautiful. He does so while you are barely paying attention. Listening to the album feels like sitting with a close friend and a guitar on a warm summer evening. As the songs are strummed - songs you must have heard fifty times before - suddenly you catch the lyrics - and you wonder how you missed them the first forty-nine times. The album becomes new again. Not every album can have a rebirth like this. Yea, Bright Eyes, I agree, M. Ward for President!
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