Ever since Zooey Deschanel sang “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” with Will Ferrell, I’ve been waiting for Volume One to come out! I was planning on loving this album, but instead felt completely apathetic towards it. The first thing that stuck out was the pure lack of emotional connection with the songs, at least from an audiences perspective. She & Him experimented with lots of different sounds, but never owned any of them. A little bit of trying too hard to the point of never getting emotionally involved would be my diagnosis, but then maybe I was just expecting too much.
Enough with the criticisms, because there were some really enjoyable songs on the album especially involving the vocals of M. Ward. My personal favorite was “You Really Got a Hold on Me”. The chemistry of the two finally created the emotion you’d been craving all along. The angst and yearning vocals of Deschanel come to a head on this song creating a sense of believability lacking in others. While the single “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?” is quite catchy, “You Really” takes you straight into the heart behind this entire project. Hopefully we’ll be hearing more soon.
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