Word: deschanelã
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...Volume One,” Deschanel sings, composes, and plays banjo and piano while Ward contributes production, backup vocals, and guitar playing. But listening to their music, the group sounds a lot more “She” than “Him,” Deschanel??s sound and outlook dominate the tracks...
...Deschanel??s seeming inability to depict more than unhappiness, partially obscured by pluck, prevents most other tracks from conveying diverse or interesting emotions. One gets the sense that she only writes abstractly about problems people might have, as opposed to her actual experiences. “Me and You,” a melancholy yet slightly upbeat song featuring poignant strings and steel guitar picking is one such example. It takes the song’s narrator out of the picture, and focuses on an abstract subject, with Deschanel urging, “You?...
...Like Deschanel??s songwriting, Ward’s arrangements could have pushed themselves much further. The mixture of influences—doo-wop, Motown, old-school country music—makes the album feel fairly fresh, but it also inhibits it. Ward does not appear comfortable with any musical innovations, instead relying on decades-old standbys like harmonizing girlish voices and handclaps on “Home...
...features redeeming the complacency of most of the album is Deschanel??s voice, She & Him’s undoubted strength. Her vocals vary between soulful, childlike, and ethereal. Her voice adds enormously to the charm of otherwise run-of-the-mill songs. This is especially evident on the Ward and Deschanel duet “Ridin’ in My Car.” The song is typical She & Him: twangy harmonies deliver a bittersweet message of a lost summer love, matched with an upbeat poppy melody. But Ward’s voice fails to match Deschanel?...
...times, however, complacency creeps even into Deschanel??s vocals. On “Gonna Get Along Without You Now,” Deschanel and her backup singers can’t even muster the requisite sass to convincingly pull off lyrics such as, “Uh-huh, mm-hmm / Gonna get along without you now.” Singing too sweetly, she fails to provide any edge to the track, and any possible feeling in it slips away...
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