She & Him Volume One by: Thomas Mendelovitis Wed:30-Apr-08 Label: Merge Year: 2008 WB rating 84 out of 100

Pop moves in mysterious ways – or at least it does in cycles. I’m sure She & Him’s brand of music has been made throughout the intervening ages since it was the prime commercial music of choice in the 70s, but I can’t see it working in the decadent 80s or the slackerdom 90s. Whatever the case, the plaintive ballads, up-tempo country-pop and vintage MOR of Volume One works a treat in 2008.

The back-story is interesting; the ‘she’ is Zooey Deschanel of Almost Famous and Hitchhiker’s Guide fame, the ‘him’ is M. Ward of lush country-pop fame. After meeting, Deschanel let slip that she had some bedroom recordings. Ward pounced and the end result is Volume One. While it’s tempting, any initial attempt to discredit Deschanel as another acting-to-singing star conglomerate is rendered futile from the very first notes she sings. Hers is a voice that puts the lion’s share of female vocalists to shame; powerful, nuanced, supple and sweet, it recalls Karen Carpenter in all her splendour. Put to perfect use in front of Ward’s diverse arrangements, the songs positively sparkle.

The songs are classic easy-listening pop, and for some this may be hard to stomach. There are no tricks here, no cynicism or jadedness, no edge. This is primarily the overriding charm. Opener ‘Sentimental Heart’ states the case perfectly: “Oh, old habits die hard, when you got a sentimental heart, piece of the puzzle and you’re the missing part, oh what can you do with a sentimental heart?” One answer is to make this kind of music. Done with the splendour heard here, it makes for the kind of transcendental listening you couldn’t believe baby boomers got out of the eerie Hitchcock-esque bird scenario presented by ‘Close To You’.

On ‘Sentimental Heart’ the piano is bolstered by strings and the elliptical structure mesmerises. Elsewhere, this winning combination of songwriting and arrangement savvy is equally as effective. Soon after the second track begins with booming drums, it has petered out into a chorus of ‘bah bah bahs’ and another standout track begins with the insistent acoustic strumming of ‘This Is Not a Test’. A standard chord progression and the repeated refrain in the chorus could prove staid, but Deschanel’s cleverness in holding off on singing the word ‘anyway’ brings the song into another dimension. It would be too easy to sing the album’s praises track by track, you’ll just have to hear it yourself. At 12 tracks Volume One is perfectly paced, never overlong or overwrought. It is consistently brilliant.

As for Ward’s presence, he is always there, but behind the scenes. If you yearn for his voice, you will get it, but in finely measured doses. He offers backing touches on a few songs, and his characteristic tone suits Deschanel’s well. Only once does he assume lead duties, on the Beatles-go-Hawaii ‘I Should Have Known Better’, the only cover. On this penultimate track the interplay of She & Him is brought into full focus, and for fans of Ward it’s a welcome moment. His main role, however, is to bring the production nous, and he does this with the quiet panache evident on his most recent solo effort Post-War – but perhaps here to greater effect. It may just be Deschanel’s achingly brilliant voice, but the ‘She’ & the ‘Him’ combine like hotdogs and mustard. They know it too, the band name the proof.

We can only imagine the reaction when David and Bacharach first gushed “What the world needs now, is love, sweet love”. When we heard it, most of us recoiled. If you think music should mark progression, then Volume One will mark the merely average. ‘Why not just dig up some old Linda Ronstadt or Carpenters’ LPs?’, you might think. If, however, you take it for what it is, the record is near flawless. Deschanel’s voice has serious chops, and in comparison with Ronstadt, I would say she even comes out slightly ahead – but it could just be modern fidelity and compression. The songs can veer into the generic: the piano tone and vocal placement on ‘I Thought I Saw Your Face Today’ is remarkably similar to classic Carpenters like ‘Close To You’. Furthermore, her accent occasionally changes according to the genre of each song- creating a slight feeling of unauthenticity. However, often what the world needs now is, indeed, love (and sweet love, at that). Volume One represents a finely argued case in point for the classic ballad.