David Ward: Golden Future Time

Anyone who melds the tenor of Stevie Wonder into the falsetto of Jeff Buckley and the yips of Michael Jackson (the results of which are tethered to waves of psychedelia) is either genius or Gubu. Yet Vancouver's David Ward does precisely this on Golden Future Time, a brief if substantial clash of electro, art-rock, disco, funk, prog rock and r'n'b. On paper there's no way it should work; listening to it a few times in a row, however, it works like a dream. It's all in the pacing, which is as cute as a fox and as smooth as silk.Opening track Slowly Through the Night is grounded by loaded-down ambient pulses, followed by reflective synths and the woozy ambience of classic-era Pink Floyd. It ends with the bass/synth snags of Fly. Like the rest of this album, give it a few spins and you're hooked. davidwardmusic.com
Download: Slowly Through the Night, Bird in the Hand