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closeAlbum review: She & Him
By Dan DeLuca The Philadelphia Inquirer
She & Him
Volume One
The actor convinced that he or she is a singer at heart — music, don't you know, was the thespian's first love — is such an annoying cliche that Zoey Deschanel has considerable ill will to overcome in getting her duo She & Him taken seriously.
It helps a great deal, however, that the Him paired with Deschanel is Matt Ward, the guitarist, songwriter and producer whose rootsy, pre-rock proclivities mesh nicely with her country- and cabaret-flavored songs.
Volume One, however, is mainly Deschanel's show, and though she may be most musically well known for singing Baby, It's Cold Outside in the shower in the movie Elf, she steps out confidently. She's a no-nonsense vocalist who writes endearingly unpretentious pop love songs, makes kazoo sounds with her mouth on This Is Not a Test and does quite nicely with a luxuriously lazy Hawaiian guitar version of the Beatles I Should Have Known Better.