Hold Tight

In my mind, some albums still merit the commitment of a trip down to the record store for an old-fashioned hard-copy purchase, and for my money anything in M. Ward’s catalog is deserving of that excursion. So when he put out “Post-War” way back in August of 2006, I purchased my copy as I set out on a California road trip the day after that album’s release. Regretfully, a good portion of it had already been leaked, and I will confess to having loved ten of its thirteen tracks well before sliding that CD into my rental car’s stereo, which made that moment somewhat less thrilling.

This year, as we prepare for “Hold Time” to drop on February 17, I have vowed to resist the urge. Rather than taste the tracks one or two at a time in the pitiful confines of my office, I plan to take it in all at once, on a solid sound-system and in the warmth of my home or a friend’s.

But people are making it hard for me, starting with the man himself.

I didn’t plan to listen to the title track last month. I just wanted to check the website, see if any new shows had been scheduled (coming soon will be my open letter to M. in which I plead for him to return to Pittsburgh), maybe check out some news updates. But instead I saw the video for “Hold Time” streaming on the little TV in the corner, and so, feebly, I dialed up the volume on my two-watt desktop speakers and listened. And I was not disappointed with the tune so much as I was with myself.

In truth, it's a beautiful song, evocative of the mellow title track off Ward's last record and, after taking it in and thinking it over, I decided that my exposure to one track won’t ruin my overall experience of “Hold Time.” But I also decided not to stray beyond that one, though I’ve been tempted.

The leaks are out there, especially this week, as NPR has begun to stream the record in its entirety (as they’ve also done with Andrew Bird’s forthcoming “Noble Beast”). I could sit down this weekend, pour a glass of port, wire up my laptop to my receiver and enjoy the album right off the web. But it might not be as satisfying, and I don’t rightly know if I want to take that risk this time around. So for now, I wait.