Rounding out a string of radio session posts, and fresh from watching The Go-Getter, here’s She & Him‘s Steve Lillywhite session for NPR. With due credit to the Lillywhite/NPR, sounds a lot better than the sessions they did for KEXP and KCRW. They perform 3 songs, which are interspersed with a short interview, where they talk about hooking up (musically) after their duet that played over the end credits in The Go-Getter.
It is abundantly obvious that Zooey Deschanel has a fantastic voice. And Matt Ward makes a good companion, supplying the production know-how and vintage take on folk and wall-of-sound pop to support her voice. I don’t find their album especially inspired; they pull off some songs well in a nostalgic manner, with fine effort but without the thoughtfulness that makes Cat Power‘s latest an engaging take on standards (and non-standards), or the inventiveness that is embodied by the artists that they are approximating. In the end, despite a number of original compositions, the album comes off as a karaoke performance: it is an enjoyable display of talent, but for the most part I would rather spend my time with a Patsy Cline album. Or one of Neko Case‘s, for that matter.
That aside, Zooey (and her voice) is a gem and, save the omission of album standout, “Sentimental Heart,” these are three of the best tracks from the album. In this stripped-down format, “Change Is Hard” might even come off better than the studio version.
: 01 Take It Back :
: 02 You Really Got A Hold On Me :
: 03 Change Is Hard :
