She & Him – Classics

She & Him do some 'Classics'...
She & Him : Classics
6.9 Columbia
2014 

She & Him : ClassicsShe & Him have long since doubled-down on their less-than-modern sound and less-than-indie cred, from having New Girl star Zooey Deschanel as ‘She’ (with musician M. Ward as ‘Him’) to releasing an honest-to-god Christmas album (QRO review). And now they do some Classics, covers of songs as old as recorded music that sees an even more restrained duo.

Seemingly all of the songs on Classics date from before rock music, giving it a jazz standard feel, combined with Deschanel’s Patsy Cline-like croon. It’s very easy listening, definitely something you could buy your mother (or grandmother) for the holidays, but hardly revelatory. However, there is something at least a little fresh in hearing sounds so decidedly not contemporary.

Most of the songs are actually not that well known, save for an umpteenth cover of “Unchained Melody” and an admittedly Classic goodbye, “We’ll Meet Again” (just recently sung on the final episode of The Colbert Report). Deschanel has pipes and charm, though it feels a bit more special when Ward gets to sing as well. All of the pieces have slow sway, with mostly limited instrumentation.

Classics does feel a bit like a holiday buying season cash-in (especially as the duo has moved from indie imprint Merge Records to major label Columbia), but it’s a nice one.

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