She & Him - Volume Two

Merge Records' duo She & Him have returned with their second album, aptly titled Volume Two, follow up to their hopefully titled, and quite successful, Volume One (voted Paste Magazine's Album of the Year for 2008) . The first single from the album, In the Sun, was released to the public in February, shortly before the album release and before the She & Him were set to appear as part of the Merge Showcase at Austin, Texas' annual South by Southwest festival.

All of the songs, except for Ridin' in My Car (NRBQ) and Gonna Get Along Without You Now (Skeeter Davis), were written by Zooey Deschanel (She) and produced by M. Ward (Him), the same arrangement the two had on the first album. Tilly and the Wall offer guest vocals on In the Sun.

The songs on Volume Two are very simplistic, to the She & Him duo's credit. They avoid the temptation to over exaggerate melodies and harmonies, guitar riffs and vocal runs and keep everything simple. They are songs to make you feel good, which is a huge undertaking in an industry where the trend is toward sad, angry or angsty lyrics and vocals.

For me, it's always a good sign when you can start singing along with the songs on the second or third time through the album, and that is exactly how it worked out for me. The first track, Thieves, quickly, and easily, became my favorite of the album's offerings. A special treat is Ward's vocal contribution on Ridin' in My Car (he contributes back up vocals on other tracks but provides a leading solo on the NRBQ cover). The thirteen track album closes with an a capella, almost hymnal-in-tone track, If You Can't Sleep.

In support of the new album, She & Him are touring throughout the spring, and are on the schedules for the Coachella Festival (April 16th in Indio, CA), Sasquatch Music Festival (May 31st in George, WA), Verge Music Festival (June 4th in Milwaukee, WI), the Chicago Downtown Sound Series (June 7th) and they will end the tour in Manchester, TN at the Bonnaroo Festival on June 11th.

If you aren't able to check the duo out on their festival tour, take a look at their first video from this album, In the Sun, up for viewing on Stereogum.com, as well as several other video websites: http://stereogum.com/293221/she-him-in-the-sun-video/news/