Think of Spring

Think of Spring
Studio album by
M. Ward
ReleasedDecember 11, 2020 (2020-12-11)
GenreFolk
Length37:36
LabelAnti-
M. Ward chronology
Migration Stories
(2020)		 Think of Spring
(2020)		 Supernatural Thing
(2023)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic70/100.
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStar
The GuardianStarStarStar
Pitchfork7.0/10
Mojo80/100

Think of Spring, released in 2020, is the eleventh studio album by singer-songwriter M. Ward. The album is a tribute to Billie Holiday’s 1958 album Lady in Satin.

Think of Spring includes all the tracks from Lady In Satin except for Glad to Be Unhappy and The End of a Love Affair and includes All The Way, which was recorded by Holiday and released on her 1959 album Last Recording.

Background

Ward began listening to Holiday's music at an early age but first heard Lady in Satin at the age of 15 playing in a shopping mall. Her voice sounded to him like "a beautiful perfectly distorted electric guitar—some other-world thing floating there on this strange mournful ocean of strings". He later described the experience to be dream-like.

Ward had been working on a tribute to Lady in Satin for quite some time but was able to finish it in 2020 from home after his planned world tour was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All the songs were recorded on a Tascam Portastudio four-track cassette recorder that he had purchased at the age of 15. The analog recording technique was intended to give the album a personal sound.

Many of the songs were recording using alternate guitar tunings.

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."I Get Along Without You Very Well"04:02
2."For Heaven's Sake"03:32
3."It's Easy To Remember"03:21
4."You've Changed"03:23
5."Violets For Your Furs"04:39
6."For All We Know"02:57
7."But Beautiful"03:11
8."All The Way"02:47
9."I'm A Fool To Want You"04:16
10."I'll Be Around"02:25
11."You Don't Know What Love Is"03:03

References

  1. ↑ "Reviews for Think of Spring by M. Ward". Metacritic. Retrieved May 11, 2026.
  2. ↑ Monger, Christopher. "Think of Spring – M. Ward". AllMusic. Retrieved May 11, 2026.
  3. ↑ Spencer, Neil (April 25, 2003). "M Ward: Think of Spring review – a spectral tribute to Billie Holiday". The Guardian. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  4. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (Dec 11, 2020). "M. Ward: Think of Spring". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 11, 2026.
  5. ↑ "M. Ward: Think of Spring". Mojo: 82. Dec 21, 2020.
  6. ↑ Pfeiffer, Sacha (December 26, 2020). "M. Ward's New Album Offers His Take On Billie Holiday's 'Lady In Satin'". NPR. Retrieved May 11, 2026.
  7. ↑ Lopez, Julyssa (December 18, 2020). "M. Ward: "Think of Spring"". The New Yorker. Retrieved May 11, 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (December 11, 2020). "Think of Spring". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 11, 2026.
  9. ↑ Browne, David (February 1, 2021). "M. Ward on Why Billie Holiday Endures". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 11, 2026.
  10. ↑ Chiu, David (17 December 2020). "M. Ward On The Billie Holiday Record That Inspired His New LP". Forbes. Retrieved May 11, 2026.
  11. ↑ Reed, Conner (December 3, 2020). "M. Ward on His New Billie Holiday Tribute Album Think of Spring". Portland Monthly. Retrieved May 11, 2026.