Monday, April 20, 2009

Album and Song of the day: She & Him - Sentimental Heart



Deschanel and Ward first met on the set of the film The Go-Getter, in which the actress had a starring role. The director of the film, Martin Hynes, introduced the two and asked them to sing a duet together to be played at the end credits of the film. They decided to perform a Richard and Linda Thompson song entitled "When I Get to the Border". The two bonded over their shared interest in certain songs and artists. Ward, having heard Deschanel sing previously in the film Elf, was surprised that she wrote songs herself and had many home demos. He asked her to send them to him. Deschanel was shy about music, but sent them to him anyway. Ward called her a short time later, and told her that he would like to record her songs properly, and their band She & Him was formed.

Ward and Deschanel share a mutual affection for the songs they grew up hearing on Los Angeles radio stations - and keep in their hearts the records that most DJ's aren't playing anymore: Les Paul and Mary Ford, The Ronettes, Nina Simone, Chet Atkins, Linda Ronstadt, the Carter Family and about a hundred others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She_and_Him
http://www.sheandhim.com/sheandhim.php (warning: music plays on website)

Great album... definitely a slower type album. Highlights are hard to define, but songs 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8 & 13 are pretty special.

All Music: Deschanel's songs are simple and sad tales of heartbreak and missed connections, with hooky melodies and not a single artless moment to be found.

Metacritic

Here's a sample mp3 if you like; I'll go with the opener... Zooey's voice, her harmonies (with herself), Ward's arrangement, and strings in the background make this really simple song stick. I like it better than their single, but yeah, only barely. Ok, one more.

Do yourself a favour and download the album (Direct download here)

Here's Zooey with Brian Wilson recently. Awkward at first, but gets pretty good.

Artist on Artist: Brian Wilson & Zooey Deschanel

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