M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel Make Beautiful Music Together

Stefani Rubino, Staff Writer

Issue date: 2/26/08 Section: Variety

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Some time ago, Zooey Deschanel (Bridge to Terabithia, Winter Passing) co-starred alongside Will Ferrell in his holiday-themed, kid-friendly flick Elf, where she is featured reluctantly singing "Jingle Bells" to save Santa. I'm sure that anybody who has seen the film never expected anything to come out of the fairly beautiful singing recorded in the movie. However, it seems as if we were all wrong, as Miss Deschanel and her boyfriend, indie-superstar M. Ward, are releasing their collaboration album, Volume One, in the beginning of March.
According to Merge Records, they first met and collaborated when they covered Richard and Linda Thompson's "When I Get to the Border" for a movie soundtrack. Eventually they started dating, and decided to release an album together, recording under the name She & Him. The news of their collaboration has been buzzing since the end of 2007, and now, the album has inevitably been leaked all over the Internet. Some were extremely skeptical about what this album might sound like, and most of all, about how Deschanel would sound compared to Ward's incredibly soft and gentle vocals. Surprisingly, her singing does not pale in comparison and the album is actually quite good.
However, there is one thing listeners should be aware of. Volume One is not a showcase of Ward's talent, but more so of Deschanel's. Ward simply plays the instruments and produced the record, which he does well, of course.
Of the original tracks on the album, the ones that stand out the most are "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?," "I Thought I Saw Your Face Today," and "Change is Hard." The first starts out with a very Beatles-like piano solo by Ward and then Deschanel's Dusty Springfield-like vocals come in and take the entire song home. Her singing is almost unbelievable, and brought back memories of listening to my mother's record collection and discovering people like Springfield and Linda Ronstadt.
"I Thought I Saw Your Face Today" is an incredibly fun song to listen to, and probably my favorite on the entire album. The lyrics are catchy, playful, and interesting, discussing a long-lost love of sorts. Deschanel's voice sounds especially sweet and innocent on this track and the melodies that Ward lays down behind it are charming and inviting.
"Change is Hard" is slower than "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" and shows off Deschanel's versatility as a singer. You can tell that she puts her heart into every lyric, lifting the entire song up to another level. Ward's sort-of early-sixties-like guitar melodies carry the song and give way for Deschanel's voice to take the stage for this song. Here, more than any of the other songs, Deschanel reminds me of how amazing Jenny Lewis' (of Rilo Kiley) first solo album was when it came out.
As I said, the album is surprisingly good, and Ward and Deschanel both did a great job on the writing, recording, and composing of the entire album. It is beautifully done and when you reach the end of the last song, you'll want to hear more from these two. Volume One is due out in stores March 18th, and if I were you, I would be running, not walking, to get this album.

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