Volume 3

Zooey Deschanel – everyone’s favourite hipster-crush – has been taking time out from being charming and whimsical on the hit sitcom New Girl, to indulge in being charming and whimsical in a third collaboration with M. Ward.  Volume 3 offers more of the same from indie duo She & Him, extending their already highly cohesive musical project with another heart-warming full length; one that musically crystallises the experience of kicking back on a sunny afternoon.

Volume 3 comprises eleven original songs penned by Deschanel and features covers of Blondie, Karen Chandler and Ellie Greenwich, anchoring She & Him’s sound in a time gone by.  With its ’60s-style production and palpable echo of Carole King and Patsy Cline, the volume casts a fond eye on retro pop music, doo wops and schoop schoops included.  If that wasn’t enough, the LP is available on cassette, divulging a wilful commitment to their aesthetic of choice.

All in all, Volume 3 is worth dusting off the old cassette-player for. It’s a testament to sticking to what you know, and when what you know is girl-next-door charm and melodious, doe-eyed indie pop, accusations of vapidity will be replete from the more cynical schools of criticism.  Fortunately, however, there’s enough substance beneath the summery, honey-glazed veneer to save She & Him from getting old three volumes into their career.

Once more, Deschanel’s supple, melancholy voice ripples over the muted, sultry tones of M. Ward’s guitar lines.  Ironically, they’ve never sounded more like themselves than on their duet of Greenwich’s b-side, ‘Baby’ or on the Nouvelle Vague-esque lilting strings of ‘Turn To White’, which reflects the integral importance of referentiality to She & Him’s aesthetic.

The lack of experimentalism is redeemed by the album’s indefatigable optimism, making a good case for that old adage: “if it’s not broken, why fix it?”

The closest the record gets to toeing the line of new territory is in the unbelievably catchy disco grooves of ‘Together’, but overall, Volume 3 doesn’t exactly break the mold.  Brushing off heartbreak with a lyrical shrug of the shoulders (“what’s a girl to do?” asks Deschanel on ‘Something’s Haunting You’), the record is buoyed along by the twee charm that characterized this volume’s predecessors, from which a fair proportion of the new tracks could quite easily have belonged to in another life.

That said, the lack of experimentalism is redeemed by the album’s indefatigable optimism, making a good case for that old adage: “if it’s not broken, why fix it?”  The more significant pitfall of Volume 3 is its failure to fully sustain the sprightly alluring hooks displayed in ‘I’ve Got Your Number, Son’ and ‘Never Want Your  Love’, which do ebb a little in the more lacklustre numbers.  Among such moments are the likes of ‘London’ and ‘Snow Queen’, which understandably slip under the radar in a record designed for easy listening.

Third time around, She & Him have somehow managed to package nostalgia neatly into a sheeny and highly accessible concoction that teems with Americana charisma and toe-tapping melodies.  It’s fair to say that there’s nothing new here, but it’s hard not to be lassoed in by the spirited, retro sensibility that springs forth every time Deschanel and M. Ward get together.

Similar To: Camera Obscura, Belle & Sebastian

MP3: ‘Together’, ‘I’ve Got Your Number, Son’