I woke up this morning with a splitting headache. This is unsurprising since I went to bed with a splitting headache and only slept for a little over two hours. But I digress… The point is, my cranial discomfort has played a role in my selection of blog fodder this morning. I was initially at a loss, wavering back and forth between the extremes of frenetic Indie-Rock and crunching Hip-Hop beats. Then I remembered something that happened yesterday…
My London-based homegirl Lady Glock posted on that other blog I run about actress Scarlett Johansson’s forthcoming Dave Sitek-produced album of Tom Waits covers Anywhere I Lay My Head. She was non-plussed but wasn’t hating at all. And while I think Johansson’s beautiful, love a number of her films (especially Ghost World) and actually enjoyed her karaoke stylings in Lost In Translation I wasn’t in a hurry to check out her singing debut. If I’m being honest here I still haven’t listened to it (maybe I should go do that now?). Anyway, it wasn’t the post itself, but a comment left by OKP sports boarder Zeno that read “Zooey 1, Scarlett 0,” which reminded me of how much I’d liked Volume One, the debut disc from She & Him, a duo comprised of musician/producer M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel, another actress trying her hand in the music industry.
Deschanel has sung in a handful of her films, most notably Elf, and Ward previously co-produced the debut solo album for Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis (herself a former child actor) so when I saw their names on the disc I figured they’d be hard-pressed to drop the ball on this one. Thankfully I was right in my assumption. Volume One is a collection of pretty torch songs, luxuriant ballads, stripped-down (country-tinged) Folk numbers and dramatic Pop songs embellished with lush orchestration and girl-group harmonies. It showcases Deschenel’s precociously quirky, gramophone-reared vocals (as well as her piano and banjo playing) and betrays her as a skilled songwriter of sentimental, melodic Pop tunes that hearken back to the time of 78 and 45 RPM records, slick hollywood musicals, standards-singing cabaret acts, roadside recordings by backwoods troubadours and the like. And it helps that collaborator M. Ward knows his way around a studio.
The duo’s blend of Tin Pan Alley, Brill Building, Lomax family archive, old-school Nashville and cabaret influences had me drawing parallells to legendary singer/songwriter Carol King, and the work of more contemporary artists like Regina Spektor, Nedelle, Nelly McKay, the aforementioned Jenny Lewis, Cat Power and Feist among others. I like the whispy balladry (”Sentimental Heart,” “Take It Back”) and melancholy Country/Folk (”Change is Hard,” “Got Me,” etc) just fine, but some of my favorite songs on the disc are the ones infused with a bit of that ’60s-style soulfully-poppy girl-group flavor, like “I Was Made for You,” “Sweet Darlin’,” “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here,” “This is Not a Test” and “I Thought I Saw Your Face Today.” In fact, putting that last one on repeat as the sun started peeking through the makeshift blinds in my office-space this morning proved the perfect headache cure.
She & Him “I Thought I Saw Your Face Today”
- El Keter