5 ▁stars , ▁reflect ive ▁of ▁the ▁aggreg ated ▁score , ▁and ▁commented ▁that ▁"[ A ▁W ast eland ▁Comp an ion ] ▁is ▁his ▁most ▁v ivid ▁and ▁varied ▁yet , ▁full ▁of ▁ex quis ite ▁guitar ▁work , ... gem - like ▁song craft ... and ▁inspired ▁covers ." ▁Matthew ▁Mc F ar land ▁of ▁P refix ▁offered ▁the ▁criticism , ▁" What ' s ▁missing , ▁though , ▁is ▁the ▁familiar ▁sense ▁of ▁de ft ▁control ▁over ▁the ▁album ' s ▁arc , ▁the ▁lyr ical ▁intr ig ues , ▁and ▁the ▁instrument al ▁detail ▁that ▁make ▁his ▁other ▁work ▁so ▁ind isp ens ible [ s ic ] ▁to ▁the ▁ind ie ▁folk ▁canon ▁of ▁last ▁de cade ." ▁ ▁After ▁another ▁multi - year ▁break ▁from ▁solo ▁recording , ▁M . ▁Ward ▁released ▁his ▁e ighth ▁album , ▁More ▁Rain , ▁on ▁March ▁ 4 , ▁ 2 0 1 6 , ▁via ▁Mer ge ▁and ▁B ella ▁Union . ▁Ward ▁began ▁working ▁on ▁More ▁Rain ▁in ▁ 2 0 1 2 , ▁initially ▁experiment ing ▁with ▁layer ing ▁his ▁own ▁vocals ▁to ▁create ▁a ▁do o - w op ▁record . ▁After ▁collabor ating ▁with ▁other ▁artist ▁on ▁the ▁record ▁such ▁as ▁R . E . M .' s ▁Peter ▁Buck , ▁k . d . ▁lang , ▁N ek o ▁Case , ▁and ▁others , ▁the ▁sound ▁of ▁the ▁album ▁went ▁in ▁a ▁different ▁direct , ▁described ▁as ▁" true ▁got ta - st ay -