If you’re thinking to yourself, “there can’t be too many Zooey Deschanels knocking about, that must be the same one from (500) Days of Summer and New Girl and the like,” you would, of course, be exactly right. Accordingly, you should probably prepare yourself for some degree of fangirl attendance at She & Him shows, but beyond that, we should only really discuss her musical merits here (and avoid mentioning that she inspired ex-husband Ben Gibbard to start writing songs with titles like ‘Stay Young, Go Dancing’.)
It’s easy to forget that Spin magazine voted the pair’s debut, Volume One, as the best record of 2008; back then it seemed to come out of leftfield, but since Deschanel and M. Ward have proved it was no one-off with two fine follow-ups. Live, there’s an expansive backing band to bring some of the more complex numbers to life - particularly the gorgeous retro-pop likes of ‘I’ve Got Your Number, Son’ and ‘Never Wanted Your Love’ from Volume Three - but it’s when it’s just the two of them onstage that their shows really take off; they’ve yet to top their stellar version of ‘You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me’, although the stripped-back loveliness of ‘Brand New Shoes’ runs it mighty close.
Will Varley
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