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Cute quirky actress Zooey Deschanel, 28, has a debut album out with her band She & Him in which she sings folksy music in a kind of sweet country throwback twang. The music is lovely, it’s soft, quaint, wholesome and real. Their sound has an authenticity and purity to it and I was surprised at how both how well and how simply Deschanel can sing.
The NY Times profiled Deschanel’s new band and her move from movies to part-time musician, and journalist Melana Ryzik is as impressed as I was when I heard her sing. Ryzik says that Deschanel seems sincere, unaffected and without the ego that characterizes a lot of actor-musicians. She has indie cred and it’s well deserved:
And unlike the work of other actors-cum-musicians — Russell Crowe’s various pub-rock acts for example — the album doesn’t come across as a vanity project; in person Ms. Deschanel is exactly as indie darling as her fans would hope.
Though she was raised and lives amid celebrity in Los Angeles and has appeared in both hugely popular films (“Elf,” in which she briefly sang) and critical and cult favorites (“Almost Famous,” “All the Real Girls”), it’s easy to imagine her puttering around a cozily decorated Williamsburg loft. She takes home doggie bags, prefers tights to spray-tans and uses David Bowie’s “Changes” as her ring tone. She knits and crochets and makes brownies and gingerbread because, she said, “I like the way people react when you bake, which is, like, just pure childlike joy.”
She has some of that too — an almost hand-clapping glee — when she talks about She & Him. The music has drawn comparisons to 1970s AM radio staples like Carly Simon and Linda Ronstadt. It is unironically, unapologetically pleasant; feel-good nostalgia in the best sense. “It sort of defied some of the preconceptions and prejudices I would’ve had about an actor rock album,” said Amrit Singh, the executive editor of the music blog stereogum.com. He compared it favorably to another buzzy actress-and-indie collaboration, Scarlett Johansson’s forthcoming album of Tom Waits covers, produced by TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek. Mr. Ward and Ms. Deschanel “seemed like a good stylistic fit,” he said.
[From The NY Times via Huffington Post]
Deschanel met her guitarist and producer Matt Ward in 2006 when they worked on a cover of a song together for a small film called “The Go-Getter.” Ward said that he loved her voice and persuaded her to send him some demos she had recorded of original songs. He said Deschanel’s songs “knocked [his] socks off” and their collaboration was born.
Deschanel picked the name for the band, and said she “wanted a name that was very humble, modest and anonymous.”
Here are some videos of the band playing live at SXSW 2008 on March 14. You can hear more of their music on their myspace. If you’re listening and are skeptical at first, give it a chance, it will probably grow on you.
She & Him: Volume One
Black Hole
Sentimental Heart
You really got a hold on me
Photos are by Christopher Nelson of She & Him’s 6/29/07 performance at KEXP radio station in Seattle, from KEXP’s Flickr.
Written by Celebitchy
Posted in Music, Zooey Deshanel
9 Responses to “Zooey Deschanel has new folksy feel-good album”
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but sasha, let the girl spread her wings and try new things.
now if she had an attitude about it, i’d probably roll my eyes and toss her into the category of idiot actors who can’t sing but do so anyway just to try and gain a little more attention. but z-girl seems to be doing it for the pleasure of doing it, so good for her. explore away. -
Sheeeesh, Sasha. Why should she have to choose? Do I have to pick between my radio and TV job? Bceause I find them to be similar, much like acting and singing are.
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Because plumbers can’t suddenly start being cardiac surgeons.
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No, Sasha has a good point because singing takes about the same amount of education and training as being a cardiac surgeon.
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Yeah, Sasha is so right. Singing and acting have nothing to do with one another. That’s why Broadway is so unsucessful. And why those High School Musical movies are soo unpopular.
I forgot to mention, Zooey’s sister is that lady on that FOX show Bones. Strange. They sort of look alike once you know that.
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Zooey Deschanel is smart, talented, gorgeous and makes interesting choices. I’d say she’s one of the most positive role models of the young women in her field. Some friends of mine just finished working on a movie with her (they had small parts) and they were very impressed with her modesty and talent.
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Hmm… seems to me that Zooey had a character named Trillion…
I love her; she is such a little nut! And I love that she is a fellow knitter. Wasn’t she on board to play Janis is some new biopic?Comparing acting/singing to being a plummer/heart surgeon makes as much sense as Phoebe Price winning an Oscar
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i love zooey and have been listening to this album non-stop for the last month. it really is a great album and is definitely more genuine, as you said, than most stuff out there even but non-cross-over standards.
plus, having read interviews with zooey in the past, i’ve always been aware that she was a music lover and a rather talented musician herself. it’s no surprise she does this well, but it’s lovely all the same.
thanks, celebitchy, for recognizing she & him!
Sasha:
journey:
desultory:
Trillion:
Bodhi:
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Because career choices should be as easy putting on a hat. Pick a job, Zooey.