Beat the summer heat with She & Him
Erika Wilkins
Spectrum Editor
Light, sweet, and uncomplicated, “Volume Two,” the second album from She & Him is to music, what popsicles are to summer heat—a refreshing treat. There’s a distinctive California-dreaminess that’s reminiscent of a peach creamsicle on a sticky summer day.
The anticipated follow-up to “Volume One,” the album from sometimes actors Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward is perfect road trip music—especially if you’re taking a trip back to 1963. “The World’s been waiting/they’ve been waiting for you so they’ve just gotta hear it,” croons Deschanel on “Sing.” If sleepy tunes about summer lovin’ is your ticket, it was well worth the wait.
The album while, decidedly alternative, has an unmistakable doo-wop underlay woven through all thirteen songs. Deschanel’s voice has all the sugary sweetness of an early Diana Ross. When harmonized with Ward’s on “Lingering Still,” and “Ridin’ In My Car” the duo is at its strongest.
The music isn’t anything the world hasn’t heard before, but it isn’t characteristic of 21st century music. There’s an appreciation for simplicity that goes farther than the sometimes over-thought alternative music of the day.
Perhaps most impressive, however is the consistency of “Volume Two.” Each song, distinctive from the other, fits effortlessly into the mold that Deschanel and Ward have created.
The album is perfect background music. When you’re cruising unhurriedly down 95, cleaning your house or lazily wasting a summer day, let Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward provide your soundtrack music.
“Volume Two” is a pleasant mix of sugary, straightforward alternative-pop that will undoubtedly compliment many a summer film. For actors turned musicians, it’s not half bad.
Download (don’t steal): “Lingering Still” by She & Him
For fans of: The Bird and the Bee, The Shins, M. Ward
Grade: B
