[Article] She & Him, They are Loveable She is Adorable (Zooey!)

"Simple, honest, easy, yet stylish, and it's impossible not to love Zooey" 

-www.mellonzine.com-

M. Ward & Zooey Deschanel as She & Him

Sebuah album yang menyenangkan untuk disimak, telah dihasilkan oleh She & Him, bertajuk Volume One. Setelah sebelumnya saya tak awas dengan She & Him dan langsung tertarik pada deretan tracklist mereka karena ada lagu I Should Have Known Better, -ya mereka meng-kover lagu Beatles itu-. Jadilah saya langsung suka dengan cover version I Should Have Known Better ini, yang membawa suasana bersantai di pantai meminum es kelapa muda langsung dari buahnya dengan hujaman hangat sinar matahari. Hahaha… Bergantian lagu demi lagu lainnya mulai merasuki telinga dan hati saya, dengan musik yang sederhana, mudah tapi tidak sekedarnya walau tidak dengan cara yang spektakuler.

She & Him, -ternyata- adalah Zooey Deschanel dan M. Ward. Tidak pernah mendengar nama-nama ini? Ha… Zooey Deschanel, adalah seorang aktris, pemain film, Almost Famous, Yes Man, The Happening, dia hadir disana. Dan, ya dia bermusik dengan M. Ward yang ditemui dalam sebuah set film yang dibintangi Deschanel (The Go-Getter) dengan bendera She & Him. Sedikit sejarah, Deschanel sebenarnya sudah menulis banyak lagu yang dia rekam sendiri di rumah, namun tidak pernah cukup percaya diri untuk diperdengarkan pada orang lain. Ketika diperdengarkan pada Ward, justru rekaman-rekaman Deschanel inilah yang menjadi pondasi lagu-lagu She &; Him. Kesederhanaan lagu-lagu Deschanel –dengan karakter vokalnya yang sebenarnya tidak terlalu istimewa namun terdengar begitu jujur- diramu Ward dengan manis, menjadikannya easy listening, dengan sound yang mudah namun tidak menjadikan lagu-lagunya dangkal.

Kehadiran Zooey Deschanel dalam She & Him tentu menjadi titik perhatian tersendiri. Yeah, Deschanel cukup menjadi public figure di barat sana. Foto-fotonya banyak terpampang di majalah remaja, dia juga cukup aktif main di film Hollywood, dan dia juga bertunangan dengan vokalis dari Death Cab For Cutie,  Ben Gibbard. Dan leganya dia tidak memainkan music yang cheapy seperti Paris Hilton punya atau BBB dari Melly Goeslaw punya. Masih satu level diatas Scarlett Johansson punya album. Hahhaa.. Scarlett Johansson punya I Don’t Wanna Grow Up-nya The Ramones di albumnya, Deschanel punya I Should Have Known Better-nya The Beatles di She & Him, dan I Should Have Known Better ini masih much better than I Don’t Wanna Grow Up itu. Yeahahaha…

Telisik sedikit di album Volume One, lagu-lagu favorit saya adalah, This is Not A Test, I Thought I Saw Your Face Today, I Was Made For You, I Should Have Known Better dan Sweet Darlin’. Volume One dikemas secara musical dalam konsep yang utuh, music yang minimalis, sederhana dan mudah. Ketukan sederhana, genjrengan gitar yang santai dan backing vocal choir di beberapa bagian yang menjadi daya tarik tersendiri. Dengan esensinya yang berada di karakter penulisan lagu yang khas. Sederhana, polos, mudah namun memiliki gaya. M. Ward nampaknya tidak pernah bermaksud membuat musik yang berat untuk dicerna, ataupun eksplorasi sound dan instrumen yang terlalu detil dan rumit. Rasanya She & Him meramu musik yang asyik dan mudah untuk dinikmati dan didengarkan. An easy folk-ballads-pop album. Recommended for sure!
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It's impossible not to love Zooey, isn't it? :)

A really enjoyable album to watch, had been produced by She & Him, titled Volume One. As i'm not really aware of She & Him before, i directly attracted with the tracklist they had offered in the album because I Should Have Known Better  -yep, they made a cover version of those Beatles song- is there. Suddenly i love that cover version, bring me a pleasant atmospheric, leisure at a beach, drinks coconut water and a warm sun-tanning. Hahaha... Slowly, each other songs start to hit my ear by turns, with a simple music, easy but not as it goes by instead it's not in a spectacular way.

She & Him, are Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. Never heard those names? Ha... Zooey Deschanel, is an actress, played in movies, Almost Famous, Yes Man, The Happening, she present at those movies. And yes, yet she's on her musical career now with M. Ward -met at a movie set starred by Deschanel (The Go-Getter)-, in a band called She & Him. A bit history, Deschanel actually wrote her own songs and recorded in a home-made demo, but never exposed these on public before M. Ward. And those demos instead had been the foundation of She & Him music crafting. Simplicity of Deschanel songs -with her vocal character whose not so special but feels really honest- met by Ward sweet composition, made this really easy listening, with a easy-light sound but didn't made this shallow in musical content.

Deschanel present in She & Him surely bring some attraction point. Yeah, Deschanel is a public figure far there on the west side of the globe. Her photos printed much on a teen magazines, she played in numbers of movies, Hollywood, and she engaged to Ben Gibbard -Death Cab For Cutie vocalist-. But, fortunately she's not playing cheapy music like Paris Hilton had or BBB's of Melly Goeslaw had. Yet, still a level over Scarlett Johansson had an album. Hahaha.. Scarlett Johansson had I Don’t Wanna Grow Up of The Ramones in her album, Deschanel had I Should Have Known Better of The Beatles with She & Him, and this I Should Have Known Better still much better than those I Don’t Wanna Grow Up. Yeahahaha…

A bit sneaky on the album, Volume One, i pick some of the songs as my favorites as This is Not A Test, I Thought I Saw Your Face Today, I Was Made For You, I Should Have Known Better and Sweet Darlin’. Volume One was musically packed on a whole solid package, minimalist music, simple yet easy, and it's impossible not to love Zooey. Simple beat, leisure guitar jangling and backing vocal choiring at some parts become its own attractiveness. With its essential point on their unique characterized song-crafting spell. Simple, honest, easy, yet stylish. M. Ward seems never meant to made a heavy music to be consumed, nor detailed, complex, far exploration on sound and instrument section. It just felt likes She & Him produced a really loveable and easy music to be listened. An easy folk-ballads-pop album. Recommended for sure!
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She & Him
Genre: Pop, Folk, Ballads
Based in: US
Label: Merge Records
Year: 2008
Rate: 8.5/10
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Download digital booklet for this album, click here (lyrics, credits, and artwork)---click readmore for full story and more videos & infos---


Tracklist

01. Sentimental Heart
02. Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?
03. This Is Not A Test
04. Change Is Hard
05. I Thought I Saw Your Face Today
06. Take It Back
07. I Was Made For You
08. You Really Got A Hold On Me
09. Black Hole
10. Got Me
11. I Should Have Known Better
12. Sweet Darlin'
13. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

This is how you couldn't not love Zooey :)

*Written by: Jay
*Translated by: Jay