Send "She & Him " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 It's really not supposed to go this way. Actors from Eddie Murphy to Don Johnson to Lindsay Lohan record albums so that we can laugh at their hubris and casually dismiss their efforts. The story is so common it's created a Hollywood archetype: the actor-turned-singer-turned-punchline. But Zooey Deschanel is rewriting the script. With She & Him's Volume One, her first collaboration with M. Ward, she proved that not only could she act, write songs, and sing, but she could do them all very well, with a sparkle of personality glinting in those big eyes and bigger voice.Volume Two picks up almost exactly where Volume One left off, with Deschanel still playing a smart, sensitive young woman often on the unrequited end of love but never letting romantic disappointment get her down: "Sometimes lonely isn't sad," she declares on the stately opener "Thieves". She's still the headstrong heroine, though: "Why do I always want to sock it to you hard?" she wonders on "Over It Over Again", sounding as playfully frustrated as Loretta Lynn. And Ward remains content to cede her the spotlight, toiling behind the camera. He dresses her songs in deceptively simple SoCal folk rock, dusty cowboy-trail country music, and crisp Brill Building pop. The similarities to Volume One don't make Volume Two redundant, but reassuring: It's not typecasting if the role is this complex. On the sequel, Deschanel seems more confident as a singer, songwriter, and vocal arranger. She still has more personality than range, but has learned to maneuver around the parts she can't nail in order to sell them. Transforming herself into her own version of the Watson Twins, Deschanel often backs up herself and channels 1960s country gold classics on the languid "Me and You" and the plaintive "Brand New Shoes", pointing to older styles but never sounding beholden to the past. Her ah-has and mm-hmms make her cover of Skeeter Davis' "Gonna Get Along Without You Now" sound impossibly perky, as if she's lighter for having dumped that creep, and on closer "If You Can't Sleep", Ward layers her humming into a gentle orchestra that adds to the song's lullaby sweetness....full text |
| Spin |
| If Zooey Deschanel didn't exist, indie rock would've invented her. A life-size Kewpie doll in a vintage granny dress who belted out Christmas carols in Elf, she is the living embodiment of twee -- which is apparently her cross to bear. Last year, blogs declared a backlash against the singer-actress' "unbearable quirkiness": Offenses included baking gingerbread, knitting scarves, and playing the ukulele because "I just think it's cute." Avengers of adorableness should avoid Volume Two, her second collaboration with singer-songwriter M. Ward, since it's loaded with catchy odes to sunshine and hand-holding and learning to "be kind to yourself." But fans of '70s AM Gold will sip this stuff down like so much well-aged chardonnay. Buffeted by Ward's pillowy acoustic strums, Deschanel is a convincing soft-rock goddess, conjuring Linda Ronstadt on the country shuffle "Thieves" and Skeeter Davis on a cover of "Gonna Get Along Without You." She lays down the lullaby "If You Can't Sleep" with a voice as clear and rosy as stained glass. There's just one thing missing: any emotions that don't fit on a scale from mildly content to vaguely pleasant....full text |
| Inthenews |
| Volume Two is – rather understandably – the second album produced by She & Him. For the uninitiated, She is (500) Days of Summer actress and occasional songwriter Zooey Deschanel and Him is US alt-rock star M Ward. The second album from the pair was recorded in both Los Angeles and Portland, where She and Him respectively reside. Featuring 13 tracks, the record includes eleven tunes written by Deschanel alongside two covers – NRBQ's Ridin' in My Car and Skeeter Davis' Gonna Get Along Without You Now. M Ward offers a couple of vocals, but generally stays behind the scenes on production and guitar duties. Who's it by Zooey Deschanel is probably best known for work on the big screen. As well as wooing Will Ferrell in the Christmas comedy Elf, she also seemingly took great pleasure in breaking Joseph Gordon Levitt's heart in the brilliant indie rom-com (500) Days of Summer. However, she has history in the world of music too. Early efforts in a jazz cabaret act took a backseat when she struck up a musical partnership with M Ward, releasing Volume One of the She & Him recordings in 2008....full text |
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