M. Ward is getting old — at least, that’s the impression you get listening to his latest release, Hold Time, which blends nostalgia, romanticism and old-fashioned foot-stomping in equal parts. Nostalgia is nothing new for Ward: He may be most famous as actress Zooey Deschanel’s better half in last year’s team-up under the name She & Him, but he’s best known amongst fans for his obsession with old-time American roots music. Which makes Hold Time an interesting paradox.

Highlight track: “To Save Me (Feat. Jason Lytle)”
Subpar track: “One Hundred Million Years”
Overall rating: 8/10

While the album is not exactly a philosophical meditation on the cycle of life, there is a neatness to the order of the songs and their subject matter. A sampling, in ascending order by track number: For Beginners (”When you’re absolute beginners / it’s a panoramic view / from her majesty mount zion / and the kingdom is for you”); Never Had Nobody Like You (”Life’s just like A-B-C / Life’s just like 1-2-3”); Epistemology (”I put the right foot in front of the left / and beyond that is anybody’s guess”); Blake’s View (”Death is just a door / Blake said it first / it’s just another room we enter / it’s the threshold that hurts”); and finally, Shangri-La, which is a place (as originally described in Lost Horizon) of immortality.

As always, Ward’s latest is an ode to America’s twangy musical history, filled with references to country, honky tonk, doo-wop and southern shuffling blues. It’s playful, poppy stuff — easy to listen to, without ever slipping into easy listening. But while Ward muses on the inevitable passing of time, it’s the wistful, yearning title track – which perfectly captures the feeling that it’s all slipping too quickly through his fingers (”If only I could / hold time”) – that breaks the mould. The string arrangement, synth riff, and vocals don’t fit into any easily identifiable historical context. (Appropriately, it also feels like the shortest track on the album – though it isn’t.)

So sure: some of the tracks are full of gleeful youth. The ones that draw heavily on tradition especially are tap-your-feet, get-up-and-dance fun. But it’s interesting that Ward’s lament at getting old shows his composition maturing into a whole new beast.