photo by Angie Ward; photo courtesy of Mike Ward

Album Review of Mike Ward: Psychosongs – Love Never Rests

Detroit-based, award-winning folk artist Mike Ward has delivered an everyman, heart-touching masterpiece with Love Never Rests. I’ve written before about how my inbox is overflooded with folk music, so I only write about those whose songwriting and delivery are impeccable, and even then only those few whose music really connects with me. And yeah, I get so much folk music, not even all of those. (But thanks to all for sending your music for review consideration. Even though I can’t review a majority of what I receive, I appreciate it.) But that’s not why you’re reading, so I’ll get back to the review…

image courtesy of Mike Ward

Mike has a roughness in his vocals that combine well with his matter-of-fact delivery, lending authenticity to his relatable, observational, slice-of-life lyrics. As for the Mike Ward: Psychosongs monitor, the “psycho” part is supposedly a reference to a nickname Mike earned playing hockey. (For me, being a hockey player makes him all that much more relatable. But it doesn’t really play a role in his music on this record, other than in a single line of “Compact Life.”)

Mike has a few different female backing vocalists on several songs throughout the album. On those songs, the intermingling of the vocals is often emotionally engaging and take those tunes to the next level. I noticed this particularly on “The Currency of Forgiveness” and “There I Was,” which are both very powerful songs that would be significantly less effective with just Mike’s single, though very compelling, vocal.

photo by Scott Kraus; photo courtesy of Mike Ward

Mike’s songs are relatable, as in “I Follow,” which features several lines you’ll smile and chuckle to in recognition of your own life or, at least, something you might have thought or felt while growing up. “Lost Love Letters” strikes up a bit of nostalgia, though in this song it’s an ode to memories sung from a third-person perspective. And the disc’s closing song, “Sunday Morning,” credited as a poem by Marjorie Ward (as opposed to the rest of the songs, that are entirely Mike Ward-penned), paints a richly-painted, detailed picture of everyday, familial Sunday mornings that might be familiar to many listeners. Meanwhile, “This Old Life Goes” is a song about aging, thinking about mortality and the meaning of life, seemingly spurred by running into a friend whose mind is beginning to fail, sung pleasantly and matter-of-factly – you know, like you’d expect from a top-shelf folk song. “Smile,” too, is another pleasant little ditty about aging, though it’s actually more about loss and remembering times from the past, family, and the relentless progression of time.

photo by Danny Ward; photo courtesy of Mike Ward

The entire album is exceptionally well-conceived and executed. Personally, some of my favorite songs – not noticeably better than the other tracks, just favorites because they connect with me – are “The Currency of Foregivness,” an upbeat song about love and commitment, “There I Was,” a song I enjoy in part because of the movement in the tempo and the fun lyric “Seems like I’ve living on the wrong side of nowhere,” even if I don’t relate to the vagabond life, “Compact Life,” a clever ode devoted primarily to embracing a life less complicated, and the heavier-feeling – both in lyric and in the power of the orchestration – “Something Anything,” which opens with the line “I’m looking for something positive today.”

As a whole, Love Never Rests is an exceptionally well-produced, written, and performed folk album. If you’re a fan of that genre or of singer-songwriters or well-written songs, then you ought to give it a listen.

More Recently

Love Never Rests is no longer Mike Ward’s most recent release. If you like what you hear here – or even if you don’t, I suppose – you can check out Mike’s August 2024 release Still Troubled, too.

Looking Ahead

Check the “Live” page of Mike’s website for performance dates. He currently lists a few performance that stretch from southeastern Michigan to southwestern Michigan. Despite his “psycho” nickname, though, I’m pretty sure Mike’s allowed to leave the state, so be sure to check periodically to see if and when he’ll be near you, even if you don’t live in the Great Lakes State.