Video: She and Him - "Change is Hard" (Live on "The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson")

(Jonathan Graef)

She and Him Interviewed on NPR's "Fresh Air"

Download: She and Him - "Sentimental Heart"

NPR's Fresh Air, a program hosted by Hobo #127, has had many interesting guests on it over the years. You can now add cuter-than-buttons indie-duo She and Him to that list. Zooey Deschanel, the group's pianist-singer (apparently, she's been in some movies as well. Who knew!?) was interviewed by Terry Gross, the show's host. You can listen to the interview in its entirety here, along with some snippets of tracks from Volume One, She and Him's debut record.

Read MFR's take on Volume One here.

Volume One is out now.

She and Him MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

She and Him - Volume One (Plus a Stream of the Entire Record)

She and Him
Volume One (Merge, 2008)
Grade: A-

Download: She and Him - "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?"
Download: She and Him - "Take It Back"

Some things are just meant to go together: chips and salsa, Jack and Coke, my chemistry homework and a bottle of cheap vodka. But what happens when the mega-cute co-star of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy is added to indie rock heartthrob M. Ward's already blossoming career? Will it be too saccharine to handle? Or will it strike just the right balance between sugar and spice?

Named She & Him, M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel set out on Volume One to answer those precise questions.

The answer is that Ward and Deschanel go together like Mr. Pibb and Red Vines.

The album opens up with "Sentimental Heart," a piano-based slow jam about a broken heart. It gets off to a little bit of a slow start before busting out into heavy vocal layering that characterizes the rest of the album.

From the album's lead single, "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?," it was hard to predict where exactly the album was headed. As it turns out, the duo has crafted an album of pristine, late '50s/early '60s girl group pop music.

Overall, Volume One is a refreshing album because Deschanel is honest and simple in her lyrics. She writes words that neither bleed too hard from the heart nor break it down too far for us. But what truly makes her a sympathetic figure on the album is her voice. Deschanel's a little scratchy, she doesn't have the best range, but she really makes the most of what she's working with. If the duo's SXSW set was anything to go on, the sound holds up live, something for which I have an immense amount of respect.

Ward nestles Deschanel's lyrics and voice in drifting, drawling Brian-Wilson-in-the-shower-with-the-Ronettes style guitar licks. As cheesy as that sounds (and as cheesy as it could have been), the whole thing works out great. Volume One still manages to sound retro without being overly nostalgic or winking too much at the audience (take that, Vampire Weekend!). With Ward coming at the album from a background that incorporates basically every facet of American music in the past 50 years, Volume One's fixation on the '50s and '60s just seems like the next logical step for him.

And the album is mercifully short. Much like last year's mega-hit video game "Portal," Volume One ends before it can overstay its welcome. Clocking in at almost 40 minutes, the record ends on "Sweet Darling," a re-imagining of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." The act of bringing an album to a close before you run out of ideas doesn't get enough love, but She & Him leave the listener with not only a satisfying listen, but a reason to come back for more.

Stream the album in its entirety over at MySpace.

(April Wright)

New She And Him (Zooey Deschanel And M. Ward) - "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?"

Download: She And Him - "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?"
Download: M. Ward - "Chinese Translation"
Download: Zooey Deschanel And Leon Redbone - "Baby, It's Cold Outside"

One of the more intriguing projects to pop up on the 2008 cultural radar is the collaboration between M. Ward and actress Zooey Deschanel. The project, going by the name of She and Him, is due out in March via Merge Records. A few days ago, the label was kind enough to post a track, "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?", from She and Him's forthcoming release Volume One, due out in March. The track is called "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?"

Though the bio on the Merge Records uses Dusty Springfield, Linda Ronstadt and The Zombies as musical reference points, "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" has a distinct Beatles flavor to it, especially in the song's piano hook and whimsical feel. The whole track has a breezy, jazzy feel, which is no doubt due to Deschanel's vocal phrasing. The song is so brief that it is seemingly over before it begins, but we're definitely charmed all the same.

Volume One is out in March.

She and Him MySpace Fan Page

(Jonathan Graef)