The mysterious charm behind End of Amnesia's production continues with a sound that one could imagine being a cat's feet playing on a toy piano, before the crux of "Flaming Heart" eventually rocks in, pounding out the blues. There is tight musicianship here: the high notes sustaining, the bottom notes resonating, the tinny snare drums all a part of the action as if in some dimly-lit grill.
The quietened, drifting "Carolina" and the smoky "From A Pirate Radio Sermon, 1989" are soft, wafting pieces carefully composed but cleanly, purely articulated. The ivory is being tickled again in a far-off room on the former, with humming harmonies descending to another of Ward's crisp strums. The latter ends with an industrial, haunting piano screeching back into darkness before giving way to the tranquil acoustic reverie that is "Psalm." Like an old Irish trad song swiftly gaining momentum, and with the hum of the ocean placed quietly in the background, a neat tumbling around on the guitar's fret-board ensues before its dreamy grace finally returns.
"Ella" places us on open plains at sunset, its exquisite production meaning it sounds like it could have been recorded in any year, the intimacy a constant as the melody floats like a lantern swaying gently at dusk. There are elements of country in "Seashell Tale" — a certain burnt-out wisdom about it — but what one really begins to notice is the antique quality of every one of these songs cementing itself towards the album's end. "O'Brien/O'Brien's Nocturne," again, has that homely recorded sound of a dusty attic that, like the album as a whole, sounds stunning on headphones, letting End of Amnesia stand as proof that old forms can be used anew to astonishing results.
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Article comments
1 - Matt
This has been syndicated to Advance.net, a place affiliated with about 10 newspapers around the country.
Also please let your contact know, if you had one, that this article, is published at another place.
Thank you.
Matt Freelove
2 - crooked spine
Hey, what's the deal with posting a review of an album that's three years old?
I've been posting periodically on this site under the name "crooked spine," which I lifted from a song from M Ward's first CD, called Duet for Guitars #2. I haven't heard End of Amnesia, but Duet for Guitars #2 is fantastic. I'm not sure it's still in print, but if you find a copy be sure to pick it up.
3 - Cian
Well,
I wasn't reviewing as a new release, more of a modern classic. If you follow the link at the bottom of the review, you'll see it has already made it into the "Classic Albums" section of the site (there are also reviews of Transfiguration of Vincent, Transistor Radio along with two live shows). I have indeed had Duet for Guitars #2 in my collection for a years now, thanks for the feedback...