Word: ward
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...really catchy, but that is not necessarily a compliment. The indie-pop side project of actress Zooey Deschanel and musician M. Ward produce winsome and memorable tunes, but these tunes lack substance. The duo’s sophomore album, “Volume Two,” is a solid release, with pretty, bittersweet melodies, but the music breaks no emotional or musical barriers. Sticking to pathos with a smile, it offers very limited rewards...
...their preceding “Volume One,” Deschanel sings, composes, and plays banjo and piano while Ward contributes production, backup vocals, and guitar playing. But listening to their music, the group sounds a lot more “She” than “Him,” Deschanel’s sound and outlook dominate the tracks...
Like Deschanel’s songwriting, Ward’s arrangements could have pushed themselves much further. The mixture of influences—doo-wop, Motown, old-school country music—makes the album feel fairly fresh, but it also inhibits it. Ward does not appear comfortable with any musical innovations, instead relying on decades-old standbys like harmonizing girlish voices and handclaps on “Home...
...redeeming the complacency of most of the album is Deschanel’s voice, She & Him’s undoubted strength. Her vocals vary between soulful, childlike, and ethereal. Her voice adds enormously to the charm of otherwise run-of-the-mill songs. This is especially evident on the Ward and Deschanel duet “Ridin’ in My Car.” The song is typical She & Him: twangy harmonies deliver a bittersweet message of a lost summer love, matched with an upbeat poppy melody. But Ward’s voice fails to match Deschanel?...
...latest IT gadgets, members of all classes regularly pay deference to the supernatural. From hit men getting tattoos they believe will repel bullets, to aristocratic ladies trading stocks on the advice of astrologers, and ministers who pay tens of thousands of dollars for amulets they believe will ward off evil, the unseen is a serious, and potentially lucrative, business...