Post-War is easily M. Ward's most accessible album to date, charged with a bouncy spirit that manifests in the surf instrumental "Neptune's Net" and the sing-along ditty "Magic Trick."  Full text...

Post-War isn't perfect, but it's all the more listenable for that fact.  Full text...

This is going to be one of the year's best singer-songwriter albums.   Full text...

It's an inventive, sharp delight of a record, and possibly one of the year's best.  Full text...

It's certainly his most outgoing record, with rollicking arrangements carrying along songs like "Magic Trick", "Right In the Head" and a cover of Daniel Johnston's "To Go Home" with a rumbustious charm that belies Ward's introspective nature.  Full text...

Perhaps inspired by his collaborative work on Jenny Lewis's marvellous Rabbit Fur Coat, Ward coaxed several musician pals into the studio; the result is his most striking album yet.   Full text...

An album that is a real, unexpected pleasure to listen to all the way through.  Full text...

M. Ward is getting better - which is saying something. His last album, Transistor Radio, regarded as a tribute to a lost golden age of radio, was met with critical claim and the glee of his dedicated fans. With Post-War, he turns his husky voice to an even more varied and charming set of songs.   Full text...

This set of wildly varied songs, most of them swathed in warm and nostalgic echo, plugs the gap between then and now as successfully as Ward’s English counterpart, Richard Hawley.  Full text...

Maybe the best work Ward has ever done, at least more accessible and more technically adept than his career-shining Vincent?  Full text...

Motivated by an eccentric guitar style similar to John Fahey's weird finger-picking, Ward delivers haunting material like "Today's Undertaking," with Roy Orbison undertones, and a nice slice of Delta blues in "Magic Trick," which brings to mind '60s optimism.  Full text...

It all sounds familiar but strange, and beautiful enough to suck you in.  Full text...

Post-War showcases that personality succinctly and brilliantly, while also opening up his music to the outside world, to its troubles and its charms.  Full text...

There may be records which are more glitzy, glamourous, and initially more exciting than Post-War, but there are few which are so comfortably sculpted.  Full text...

The material doesn't resonate, however, and pales next to Ward's prior effort, Transistor Radio.  Full text...

Ward’s impeccable sound and distinguishable personality is all over Post-War. What isn’t all over this disc is an exploration of that sound or personality. He grabs and mimics, but at the end of the day we’re left with a vaguely folk-y indie rock record—no overt lyrical stances, no gambling with arrangements or song tempos/lengths—and the upsetting sense that M. Ward’s happy with that.  Full text...