She & Him
LABEL: Merge Records ||| TEXT: Jill Blocker ||| PHOTOGRAPHY: Sam Jones
She & Him, incognito in name but not in personalities, came together accidentally, through a movie set meeting on The Go-Getter, and quickly became the image of the quintessential indie group. She (Zooey Deschanel) and Him (Matt “M.” Ward), best known for She’s actress background and Him’s Portland-based indie folk band, released their second album in March 2010, a welcoming surprise for fans who didn’t know how long their no-strings attached collaboration would last.
“I really can’t stay...,” (“Baby, It's Cold Outside”) Deschanel sang while acting in the 2003 movie, Elf, exposing her soulful, mezzo-soprano vocal to the world, including to Ward. But, Ward, comfortably and complementary connected with Deschanel’s melody that resulted in a perfect musical pair and a trusted relationship that made her want to dwell. “I explored the idea of doing my own stuff with other people but hadn’t found anyone who I’d really trusted,” Deschanel said in her band’s biography on their website. “Then I met Matt. He was the perfect person, and the only person who shared my taste. We’re almost always coming from the same point of view musically.”
“It’s been the most natural extension of our interests and abilities...using the back and forth between voices and guitars is the main force of the music, and we both have a great love for using harmonies.”
The unexpected success of She & Him’s Volume One, composed of Deshanel’s lyrics, vocals, and piano and banjo skills and Ward’s production and guitar riffs led them inevitably to product their second volume. “It’s been the most natural extension of our interests and abilities,” Ward said in their biography. “Using the back and forth between voices and guitars is the main force of the music, and we both have a great love for using harmonies. I think the songs lend themselves to production styles that I love and that she loves. There’s no need to change it now, so the process for Volume Two is exactly the same: Zooey writes, I produce, and we both bring our ideas to the studio. Zooey would write and I would produce and arrange.”
She & Him self-describes their sounds as “music for an eternal springtime, when the temperature is warm enough to go riding with the top (or at least the windows) rolled down and the radio turned up.”
Their on-stage performance doesn’t sway from their highly-touted personal connection. “The dynamic between She and Ward was adorable; their intermittent glances towards one another reminded me of a father pushing his little girl off on her first bike without training wheels,” cites a review in Amplifier Magazine, noting initial Deschanel’s nervousness in the beginning of the show. “By the end of their first song she was off and racing; her audience absolutely wrapped around her little finger.”
Listening to their albums puts a little step in your beat and makes you think you’re traveling back in time to that make-believe era where everything was peaceful in black and white. “They occupy an alternate universe where the saddest of songs feel as warm as sun showers; the rain may be coming down, but somewhere nearby, everything looks bright.”
TOUR
April 15, 2010 • Pomona, CA • Glass House
April 16, 2010 • Indio, CA • Coachella Music & Arts
May 28, 2010 • Santa Cruz, CA • Rio Theatre
May 29, 2010 • Oakland, CA • Fox Theatre
May 30, 2010 • Bend, OR • Les Schwab Amphitheatre
May 31, 2010 • George, WA • Sasquatch Music Festival
June 04, 2010 • Milwakee WI • Verge Music Festival
June 05, 2010 • Minneapolis MN • First Avenue
June 06, 2010 • Royal Oak, MI • Royal Oak Theatre
June 07, 2010 • Chicago, IL • Millennium Park – Downtown Sound Series
June 09, 2010 • Toronto, ON • Phoenix Theatre
June 10, 2010 • Cleveland, OH • House of Blues
June 11, 2010 • Manchester, TN • Bonnaroo
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LINKS
She & Him Official Website
She & Him Artist Page
She & Him on Myspace
She & Him on Facebook
She & Him - In The Sun from Merge Records on Vimeo.
