3 stars (out of 4)Any lingering doubts that Zooey Deschanel was just a fine actress badly miscast as a singer were erased on She & Him’s
“Volume One” in 2008. With her collaborator, ace guitarist M. Ward, she proffered pristine pop that suggested the earnest innocence of a young Joni Mitchell or Jackie DeShannon.
“Volume Two” (Merge) picks up where the debut left off. There are no bold makeovers, but Deschanel sounds a good deal more confident. She never oversings, instead projecting a conversational purity that puts the emphasis squarely on the songs. On “Volume One” she sounded very much like the ingénue who learned to sing by belting out radio hits into a curling iron while facing a bedroom mirror. That innocence remains, but Deschanel has grown, her voice taking on duskier shades and taking more chances. Ward has the good sense to present that voice undisturbed by studio affectations, as if to demonstrate that pop can still exist outside the world of Auto-Tune.
The album runs the gamut from orchestrated splendor (“Thieves”) to a cappella melancholy (“If You Can’t Sleep”). In between Deschanel embraces piano pop, country twang, even a spritz of flamenco (“Lingering Still”), while resurrecting the lost NRBQ should’ve-been-hit “Ridin’ in My Car.” Her songs do the relationship waltz with guarded optimism; her voice is tinged by longing, a hint of anxiety, but it clings to the belief that somehow things are going to work out. Like its predecessor, “Volume II” stands outside current production trends, and it’s built to last on its own modest terms.
greg@gregkot.com
Sponsored Link: Amazon's She & Him Store