She is Zooey Deschanel, the actress and apparently all around talented individual. I remember the moment that is etched into my retina whenever I think of her is in the movie Almost Famous when she grasps the protagonist (her character's little brother) by the shoulders and proclaims to him, "One day, you will be cool" while staring at him with the most striking blue eyes. He is M. Ward, the musician who has performed with many other artists including Norah Jones, Conor Oberst, Neko Case, etc. Their collaboration, a seemingly strange one, is actually the product of a one-time pairing (for the soundtrack to the movie, The Go-Getter) that blossomed into a full album after Deschanel sent her home demos to M. Ward. Volume One is the fruits of their collaborative labor and the debut album from the duo, thus taking moniker of She & Him.
The simplicity of She & Him works immensely well for the songs, all the more evident in "Sentimental Heart" which is the opening track of the album. Deschanel's voice maintains an almost plaintive quality that bleeds sentimentality and sweetness while the backing vocals drip with nostalgic feelings. I love the fact that there is a barely audible "hmm" or something to that effect in the opening chords of "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" and the "uh huh" followed by laughing later in the song - there's something about keeping little bits like these to give the recording character. This song is a bit more upbeat and the vocals and almost galloping beat really lend their features to making the song more "cheery." There are subtle tinges of county littering the nooks and crannies of "This is Not a Test;" I really dig the way the song just seems to bounce along and the "trumpet" solo (seemingly down by someone trying to imitate such with their mouth and voice which is neat). The country tinges are also present in "Change is Hard," only this time they are a bit more obvious with pedal steel guitar and more of a country inflection in Deschanel's voice.
"I was Made for You" will cause double takes as it sounds like some song out of the fifties, right down to the vocal arrangement and the sound quality. It is scary how old it sounds, almost like it was born to be spun as a 45. The She & Him version of the Smokey Robinson (of the Miracles and Motown fame) is pretty awesome sounding as M. Ward takes to a duet with Deschanel with seemingly uncanny ease; again, as seems to be the M.O. for the duo, simplicity makes the song all the much better sounding with its gently strummed acoustic guitar and harmonized vocal arrangement. There are no tinges of country on "Got Me" because it flat out is an old sounding country tune that puts the modern day country pop on the airwaves to shame; the key change in the song is a nice little piece of musicianship. The group's take on the Lennon and McCartney song, "I Should of Known Better", is a glorious countrified reworking that makes me smile, particularly when M. Ward joins in to sing a bit.
I am honestly struck by how much I have been enjoying this record lately; the melodies are syrupy sweet in an old time AM radio type of way that is tough to not have playing on the stereo at some point during the day, and they definitely are a day brightener when they are. Who knew that Zooey Deschanel had such a sweet voice? I definitely would take this any day over any number of female voices out there right now. M. Ward definitely fashioned this record the right way and helps in a myriad of subtle ways to bring out the "sunny" sounds one can find here while making the song generally a great deal of fun by evoking nostalgic images and sounds of yesteryear. Volume One is a good record that just about begs to be listened to over and over again.
