After a decade of releasing modern rustic ballads, rockers and instrumentals, and following some considerable success sitting squarely in the producer's seat for the She & Him project with Zooey Deschanel, M. Ward dials in an assured and accomplished effort on Hold Time. Whether employing heart-tugging string arrangements and wall-of-sound tympanies when merited, or simply stripping things down to let his slapbacked storytelling come to the fore, this latest transistor transmission's a strong signal that Ward will not fade away anytime soon.