The Year That Was September- December Part One

shehim

Haven’t we heard this one before: Hollywood starlet (or her management team) eyes an opportunity to milk a few more $$$ out of the fans by branching out into the music world. Usually the next step is a dismal release or two after which she returns to the relative safety of her day job.

That was what I was thinking when I was told Zooey Deschanel was teaming up with alt-country darling M. Ward but boy was I wrong. Instead, under the moniker She & Him, they may well have released one of the most interesting albums in recent years transporting you back to a when music was about style over substance. The resulting album Volume One sounds just like the old 60s albums my dad used to play me in his car dipped in sentimentality and following in the tradition of songstresses like Joni Mitchell and Dusty Springfield.

Zooey, I owe you an apology.

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It’s amazing what a few months can do to a bands profile. Back in November I was coming to terms with TV On The Radio‘s latest effort. Now their tracks have rooted themselves firmly in my subconscious making Dear Science, the go to album when people ask me for something that will appeal to fairweather music fans and enthusiasts alike. I’m not really surprised that in December TOTR were featured prominently on New Year programs for the BBC and Channel 4 alike and were also played repeatedly on the office stereo.