Volume Two CD

MUSIC

POP

Song Listing

Disc 1

Song Title

1. Thieves ~ She & Him

2. In the Sun ~ She & Him

3. Don't Look Back ~ She & Him

4. Ridin' In My Car ~ She & Him

5. Lingering Still ~ She & Him

6. Me and You ~ She & Him

7. Gonna Get Along Without You Now ~ She & Him

8. Home ~ She & Him

9. I'm Gonna Make It Better ~ She & Him

10. Sing ~ She & Him

11. Over It Over Again ~ She & Him

12. Brand New Shoes ~ She & Him

13. If You Can't Sleep ~ She & Him

She & Him's sophomore album, Volume Two, was written by Zooey Deschanel (She) and produced by M. Ward (Him), Volume Two is the follow up to the duo's critically acclaimed debut, Volume One. The album includes eleven original tracks and two covers ? "Ridin' In My Car" by NRBQ and Skeeter Davis' "Gonna Get Along Without You Now".

Described by Zooey as a "feel-good album," Volume Two is bolstered by rich harmonies, sweet-as-sugar melodies and Brill Building choruses. From sweeping opener "Thieves" and first single "In the Sun" (featuring guest vocals by Tilly and the Wall), to the tempo and mood shifts of "Home" and the vocals-only, hymn-like closer "If You Can't Sleep," Volume Two shimmers from start to finish.

Album Notes and Credits

Notes & Personnel Info
	Personnel: M. Ward (guitar, mandolin, synthesizer); Peter Broderick, Tom Hagerman, Amanda Lawrence (strings); Zooey Deschanel (piano); Mike Mogis (synthesizer, percussion); Scott McPherson (drums, percussion).
	Audio Mixer: Mike Mogis.
	Recording information: ARC Studios, Omaha, NE; Blue Rooms, Portland, OR; Jackpot!, Portland, OR; The Village, Los Angeles, CA.
	Being half of She & Him allows Zooey Deschanel to do what she does best as a film star: act utterly adorable alongside a quiet, talented male character. Her co-star in this case is M. Ward, who produces the band's second album and frames Deschanel's voice with a Spector-sized pile of instruments. Whether they're copping the Brill Building sound or tackling `70s beach-pop, the two always have nostalgia on the mind. These 13 tracks seem to hail from an imaginary, sepia-toned world in which Richard Carpenter is king and Ron Burgundy is on the tube, and even a handful of contemporary references ("Talking on the phone and watching Cribs/He doesn't know what kind of guy he is") do little to transport the listener back to the 21st century. Like the previous album, Volume 2 might suffer under the weight of its own pastiche if it weren't so darn endearing, filled as it is with call-and-response vocals, studio reverb, sweeping orchestrations, and other bygone tricks of the trade. Deschanel is still finding her footing as a vocalist, but she smartly plays to her strengths, with a hint of vibrato coloring her best performances. "Love like ours is terrible news, but that won't stop me crying over you," she sings at the end of "Thieves," her voice fading out into M. Ward's sweeping Wall of Sound. This has all been done before, perhaps, but that's the whole point, and Volume 2 ends up being a tuneful tribute to the group's influences. ~ Andrew Leahey
Producer: M. Ward
Engineer: Kendra Lynn; Mike Coykendall; Mike Mogis

Artist Overview

Actress Zooey Deschanel had long been a musician-in-hiding, finally coming out of her shell via a Richard & Linda Thompson cover for the film THE GO-GETTER. Her collaborator on the track, M. Ward, one of the 2000s' premier independent songwriters and an immediate boon to Deschanel's credibility. The result of this seeming one-off collaboration is VOLUME ONE, their unassumingly titled full-length under the unassuming She & Him moniker, a breezy pop gem with hints of country and folk that plays down both Ward's preeminent status as a musician and Deschanel's movie-star magnetism in favor of a subdued, sunny affair that coasts on the strength of Deschanel's twinkling music box of a voice.

Compilation Appearances

Rave On Buddy Holly

Technical Info

	Release Date : 03/23/2010
	Original Release Date : 2010
	Catalog ID : MRG354
	Label : Merge
	Number of Discs : 1
	Studio/Live : Studio
	Mono/Stereo : Stereo
	SPAR Code : n/a
	UPC : 00673855035420

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (p.78)
- 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "The songs are all wistful....It's the sunniest sad record you'll hear all year -- pretty love songs set in a 'nation' where summer never ends."

Spin (p.82)
- "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.'"

Entertainment Weekly (p.68)
- "'Don't Look Back' brims with sweet piano plonk and Spector-ish harmonies..." -- Grade: B

Mojo (Publisher)
(p.98)
- 3 stars out of 5 -- "[A] succession of summery hooks carry the choruses, and Ward plays the production perfectly, keeping things spare and subtle..."

Paste (magazine)
(p.83)
- "Here, they provide a pleasant escape to a mythical America of endless horizons and youthful resilience..."

Pitchfork (Website)
- "She & Him has given Dechanel her best role yet, one that shows off her charm and intelligence to best effect -- one that she is essentially writing for herself."

Uncut (magazine)
(p.102)
- 3 stars out of 5 -- "Once again, Deschanel demonstrates a deep understanding and irony-free love of innocent old-school pop craft in her writing..."

Bio

She & Him

She & Him is the somewhat unlikely pairing of country-folk artist M. Ward and actress Zooey Deschanel. While starring in the 2007 film The Go-Getter, Deschanel was asked by director Martin Hynes to perform a duet with Ward, who had agreed to helm the movie's soundtrack. The two recorded a well-received cover of Richard & Linda Thompson's "When I Get to the Border" and later reconvened in Portland, where they set to work on recording Deschanel's own material (which the actress had previously kept secret) in Ward's studio. Drawing upon analog production techniques and the timeless catalogs of the Zombies, Dusty Springfield, and Linda Ronstadt, the duo emerged with Volume One, a collection of covers and originals that introduced Deschanel as a competent singer/songwriter.
-Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide

BloomReach Content

Volume Two (2010)

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