Released on 17 March 2010 "Volume Two" was the second studio album by She & Him, a collaboration between M. Ward and singer/songwriter and actress Zooey Deschanel. The album spawned three singles "In The Sun", "Thieves" & "I Put A Spell On You".
Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward refine and improve their sound, creating a sequel that actually improves on the original. 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. She's still the headstrong heroine, 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.
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.
If Volume One seemed a bit compartmentalized, each song working one idea or genre, Volume Two
sounds much more synthesized as Ward mixes so many styles into each
song. It never plays like an M. Ward album, though, as he tailors the
music to fit her deceptively simple songs. As Deschanel fashions a
romantic metaphor out of the myth of Orpheus, Ward adds some Beach Boys
orchestration to reinforce that sense of longing, that rolling snare
suggesting a slow, painful look backwards. An unlikely protégé of Owen
Bradley, Ward adds countrypolitan strings to many of these songs, but
never crowds her vocals or steps on her lines.
Even as
they look to the past for inspiration specifically, to some never-was
heyday of 60s radio, they aren't making a period piece on Volume Two.
What makes the album so distinctive isn't just the sound of her voice,
the quality of her songwriting, or even the resourcefulness of his
arrangements, but their joint insistence that these old sounds have as
much to say nowadays as they ever did. In that regard, She & Him has
given Deschanel her best role yet, one that shows off her charm and
intelligence to best effect-- one that she is essentially writing for
herself.
The album received positive reviews, because it was more confection than confessional, but it's a kind-natured one; the
audio equivalent of a spring breeze that wafts in at a perfect time. Over
the course of the 13 tracks there are a number of gems, while all of the
songs are expertly crafted by Deschanel and effortlessly captured by
Ward...The covers are also dealt with expertly and fit the overall mood
of the album, which has a glistening summery – and occasionally jaunty –
feel to it. The sweetness might not be to everyone's taste though,
particularly as on initial listens some tracks can appear somewhat
samey.
Volume Two Track List:
1. Thieves
2. In The Sun
3. Don't Look Back
4. Ridin' In My Car
5. Lingering Still
6. Me And You
7. Gonna Get Along Without You Now
8. Home
9. I'm Gonna Make It Better
10. Sing
11. Over It Over Again
12. Brand New Shoes
13. If You Can't Sleep
