On his first solo disc since teaming up with singer-actress Zooey Deschanel on the She and Him project last year, raspy-voiced troubadour M. Ward seems different. His immaculately arranged Americana is still as comforting as an old cardigan, but now there's a hint of sunshine in the melodies, especially on the Deschanel-assisted "Never Had Nobody Like You." There's a touch of Spector and Wilson in the arrangements; Ward piles strings and timpani into "To Save Me," a kind of boogie-woogie rock gone baroque. Behind the flourishes, Ward sounds as moony as ever, singing beautifully sad songs about mortality and feeling lonesome.