With beyond successful production work for Jenny Lewis' solo work and also starting the band She & Him with ever so cute actress/lead singer Zooey Deschanel under his belt, M. Ward's profile has never been bigger. The fact that he also put out my own personal favorite album of 2006 (Post War) means that his new solo release Hold Time is greatly anticipated with ridiculously high expectations.

Let's be real for just a moment: nothing was ever gonna live up to the Post War and She & Him records. When you do two pieces of work that good, the only place to go is down. Thankfully though, Ward hasn't descended too far from greatness because Hold Time is a very good album. Sprinkled with a plethora of different influences from John Fahey style guitar playing (anything here that is quiet and solo) to Jeff Lynne meets Phil Spector production work ("To Save Me," by far the best song of the bunch here), Hold Time is an all around music lovers wet dream. He even does justice to a cover of Buddy Holly's "Rave On" and also turns the Country classic "Oh Lonesome Me" into a fine duet with venerable Alt-Country act Lucinda Williams. Hold Time will most likely be overlooked by year's end due to the fact that everything that Ward does is golden, so do yourself a favor if you want something solid and instantly pleasing to the ears and go pick up this album of sure fire winners from one of the most talented singer-songwriters working today.