She & Him: A Very She & Him Christmas
Smooth sparse folk offers wintergreen results on indie duo’s cozy holiday set
Indie-folk rock duo She & Him – made up of New Girl actress/singer Zooey Deschanel and competent Portland musician M. Ward – puts their infatuation for Beach Boy tempo and Mid-west folk into overdrive on their first holiday outing and third disc to date. “Little Saint Nick” and “Christmas Day,” both Brian Wilson tunes, are packed with sunny backing vocals, while Zooey’s lead vocals never protruding past its buttery Patsy Cline-esque crème. She handles much of the set’s lead vocals, but when the two of them unveil their close-knitted harmonies on tracks like the rare Joey Spampinato gem “Christmas Wish” and get playful on “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” their voices echo the gleaming innocence of the holidays. Inside the framework of the music, the vocal echoes prove to be very important to the sonics, so are the guitar ad-libs and modest arrangements. The intimate acoustic element, tapered with a ukulele and sparse instrumentation, makes the yuletide effort perfect for couples. Only handicap to pout over besides the lack of rock in “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” is the obvious absence of a few originals from the talented pair, but their safe adventure of the holiday songbook will guarantee a few repeats on Muzak for Christmases to come.
J MATTHEW COBB
- Release Date: 24 October 2011
- Label: Merge
- Producer: M. Ward
- Spin This: “Christmas Wish,” “Christmas Day,” “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”
Really fun retro holiday album from Stella Artois. Download for free here http://bit.ly/uvANti