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album review | INDIE

M. Ward, ‘A Wasteland Companion’

  April 10, 2012

“A Wasteland Companion” is M. Ward’s seventh studio album, but it’s his first that sounds heavily influenced by his recent side projects. It cribs some of the pop exuberance of his work with Zooey Deschanel in their duo She & Him. And it also has the driving force of his collaborations with Conor Oberst, Jim James, and Mike Mogis as Monsters of Folk. Full of surprises and refreshing detours, this new album sometimes feels like M. Ward on steroids.

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