Following his outstanding fifth album Post War in 2006, Mat Ward returns
with a scintillating EP, out February 19th.
The golden boy of Americana can't seem to put a foot wrong, though he's
struggling to make a big impact here in the UK.
Nevertheless, this classy singer-songwriter delivers a stunning four song
collection. His trademark vocals, both haunting and exquisite, resonates
every lyric. Opening with assured aplomb, To Go Home is in the Springsteen
big-sound mould with a thrusting beat (and impressive drum rolls) and catchy
chorus it will surely catch someone's ears at the radio stations.
Cosmopolitan Pap is countrified and sprightly foot-tapping jaunt complete
with honky-tonk piano; it continues the opener's pace and energy. Down-beat
piano-lead Human Punching Bag shows the tender side of Ward's ever
expanding repertoire, with those cavernous vocals shining through. The
bigger sound returns on Headed For A Fall as it neatly shuffles along with
several instruments adding the icing on a magnificent cake.
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
