Volume One is the first album by She & Him, a collaboration between M. Ward and actress Zooey Deschanel. It was released by Merge Records on March 18, 2008.

The album debuted at #81 on the Billboard Charts in its first week, and climbed to #71 in its second week., Billboard, 12-04-2008. Retrieved 16-06-2009. It has received a strong response from critics, receiving a score of 76/100 on MetaCritic, indicating overall positive reviews. It was also voted the #1 Album of 2008 by Paste Magazine.http It came 30th in the 2008 Pazz and Jop pollhttp. Volume One has sold 176,000 copies to date in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan and Billboard Brazilhttp.

The song "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" was number 64 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008"" Rolling Stone (December 25, 2008). Retrieved 2009-01-12. and two different music videos of it were produced. The first video featured Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward in a semi-animated enactment released in 2008http. The second video, released in 2009, was a collaboration of talent from the film (500) Days of Summer, including co-stars Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt with director Marc Webb, choreographer Michael Rooney, and producer Mason Novickhttp.

Critical Reception

Volume One received almost universally positive reviews, landed on the Village Voice's 'Pazz and Jop' poll as one of the year’s best albums and was named the best record of 2008 by Paste Magazine. Patrick Caldwell of the Austin American Statesman wrote "The album gently rambled through 13 tracks of sun-dappled pop, with a gentle Orbisonian charm and sweet, wistful vocals from Deschanel."

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Personnel

Performance

*Zooey Deschanel - Vocals, Piano, Percussion, Xylophone

*M. Ward - Keys, Guitar, Slide Guitar, String Arrangement, backing vocals on "I Should Have Known Better" and "Change Is Hard"

*Tom Hagerman - Strings

*Mike Coykendall - Engineering, Percussion, Bass, Guitar, Mouth Bass

*Mike Mogis - Engineering, Mixing, Percussion, Steel Guitar

*Rachel Blumberg - Percussion

*Peter Broderick - Strings

*Adam Selzer - Percussion

*Paul Brainerd - Steel

Production

*Adam Selzer - Mixing, Engineering

*Doug Van Sloun - Mastering

*Maggie Fost - Design

Charts

Accolades

References

Artist/Band Information

She & Him is an American indie folk band consisting of Zooey Deschanel (vocals, piano) and M. Ward (guitar, production).Scaggs, Austin. Rolling Stone, February 5, 2008. The band's first album, Volume One, was released on Merge Records in March, 2008.Solarski, Matthew. Pitchfork Media, January 11, 2008. The duo is augmented by session musicians Rachel Blumberg (drums), Mike Mogis (pedal steel guitar, mandolin) and Mike Coykendall (bass, guitar).Hasty, Katie. Billboard, January 31, 2008.

History

Deschanel and Ward first met on the set of the film The Go-Getter, in which the actress had a starring role. The director, Martin Hynes, introduced them to each other 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 a shared interest in the records produced by George Martin and Phil Spector and by certain Ralph Peer groups such as the Carter Family.

Ward, having heard Deschanel sing previously in the film Elf, was surprised to learn that she wrote songs herself, but hadn't pursued a career in music. Deschanel had actually done years' worth of home demos, but was shy about becoming a big-name celebrity. On a whim, she decided to send them to Ward. Ward called her a short time later, telling her that he would like to record her songs properly, and their band She & Him was formed. Deschanel said in an interview: "I always have loved music, ever since I was really little. I just loved to sing."http

Volume One

The pair originally collaborated via e-mail, with Ward working out of his Portland, Oregon studio and Deschanel in her Los Angeles, California home. The city had a huge influence on Deschanel's music, evoking long drives along the coastal roads listening to Brian Wilson and golden oldies, jam music on 1970s AM radio. The Californian music scene also fed into Ward's production of the album, to such an extent that it inspired some of his later guitar work with alt-country singers like Jenny Lewis.

Ward would spend time "tinkering" with the music after Deschanel sent it to him, but Zooey eventually had to go to his studio to put the finishing touches on their album. They recorded in Portland in December 2006 and February-March 2007. It took them three recording sessions to complete the album. They also recorded in Mike Coykendall's and Adam Selzer's studios, and had a mixing session with Mike Mogis in his Omaha, Nebraska studio in either April or May 2007. The album is a good example of what is known as The Omaha Sound.

They took a break after that as Ward was on tour and Deschanel was filming a movie written by indie film writer John Barreca. Their album was released on March 18, 2008. Their first public appearance as a band, however, was a year and two months earlier at the Sundance screening of The Go-Getter. They performed sporadically at other events and kicked off their first tour in the summer of 2008.

In addition, Paste Magazine recently declared the She & Him's debut the #1 album of the year.Paste Magazine - http Another of the magazine's articles reveals plans for a second album, entitled Volume Two.http

2008 Tour

She & Him at NFF 2.jpgthumbrightShe & Him performing at the Newport Folk Festival (2 August 2008)

She & Him performed at the South by Southwest festival in March 2008Solarski, Matthew. Pitchfork Media, January 22, 2008.http and went on tour during July and August 2008. Becky Stark of the band Lavender Diamond provided back up vocalshttp.

Volume Two

In an interview on October 8, 2008, with Paste magazine, M. Ward announced that She & Him are currently working on Volume Two. When asked about the album Ward said "Zooey has about a gazillion brand new awesome songs. All we know about Volume Two is that it's going to be twice as good as Volume One."

An article on Pitchfork Media in December 2009 confirmed a March 23, 2010, release date for "Volume Two"http. The album will feature covers of NRBQ's 1977 single "Ridin' in My Car" and Patience and Prudence's "Gonna Get Along Without You Now", as well as a guest appearance from the indie pop group Tilly and the Wall on the track "In the Sun".

2010 Tour

She & Him have announced tour dates during spring 2010.http They will perform concerts throughout the United States including the music festivals South by Southwest, Coachella, Bonnaroo, Savannah, Sasquatch, Nateva and Verge. They will also tour Europe, visiting London, Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, and Amsterdam. They were chosen by Matt Groening to perform at All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in England.http

Discography

Albums

Singles

Compilations

* "When I Get To The Border" (2007) on The Go-Getter OST

* "This Is Not A Test" (2008) on Word Magazine's Now Hear This! 67http

* "This is Not A Test" (2008) on SCORE! Twenty Years of Merge Records

* "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here" (2008) on Paste Magazine Sampler Issue 43

* "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here" (2008) on Merge Records' 2009 Promotional Sampler

* "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here" (2008) on Hear Music's Have You Heardhttp

* "I Was Made For You" (2008) on Un Ete 2008

* "I Put A Spell On You" (January 30, 2009) on Starbucks' Sweetheart 2

* "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" (2009) on "500 Days Of Summer" Soundtrack

* "Earth" on 826LA Chickens in Lovehttp

* "Fools Rush In" from Levi's Pioneer Sessions 2010 Revival Recordings as a individual free digital single http

See also

*If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies, a Los Angeles cabaret act that Deschanel was also part of, alongside Samantha Shelton.

*Rodriguez, M. Ward's first band.

References