M. Ward (Photo by Wrenne Evans)
M. Ward was due to perform at U Street Music Hall this month, but the coronavirus epidemic canceled tours around the country. Now like many other artists, he’s livestreaming performances instead of visiting our city
Catch M. Ward with NPR Music Live Sessions on Wednesday, April 8, following the release of his new album Migration Stories via Anti Records today.
To celebrate the release of his already highly lauded 10th album, M. Ward performs a concert from his home in Southern California on Wednesday afternoon. The concert streams on NPR Music Live Sessions, YouTube, and Facebook in partnership with Record Store Day.
Said M. Ward of the stories that informed the songs of his new album, “Some time went by, the stories wove together and I remember them now closer to characters in a dream of how people could treat each other than any kind of front-page news realism. I think music subconsciously — whether writing or listening — is a filter for me. Helping to process all the bad news into something new to build from. Some records to me are like self-fulfilling prophecies — visualizing change to wish something into being. Those records inspired this one.”
Watch the official music video for “Unreal City” by M. Ward on YouTube:
A prolific writer, producer, and performer, M. Ward has established himself as one of modern American music’s most unique and versatile voices. For his tenth album he journeyed to Quebec, Canada to work with Arcade Fire’s Tim Kingsbury, Richard Reed Parry, producer/mixer Craig Silvey (Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, Florence and the Machine), and Teddy Impakt.
Together, they recorded a collection of 11 songs inspired by stories of human migration. Languid, hazy, and often dream-like in narrative, these songs have their origins in pictures from newspaper and television reports, stories told by friends, and tales from Ward’s own family history. At Arcade Fire’s Montreal studios the assembled talents recorded what he describes as “11 largely instrumental ballads — a sci-fi fast forward to a more silent night many generations from here to a maybe-era where movement is free again.”
Choose your livestream platform for M. Ward’s show.
M. Ward
NPR Music Live Sessions
Wednesday, April 8
Show @ 2pm ET
Free
All ages