Hopefully this won’t be insulting to Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, because they seem like nice people, but here it goes: She & Him’s new album Classics will undoubtedly be sold at Starbucks. It’s pleasant indie-ish folk music. It’s a collection of covers of standards. It’s the group’s first album on their new label, Columbia, after three records on Merge. It is, for god’s sake, titled Classics. Which is fine, all that is fine! Pleasant music by pleasant people for pleasant people who like a readily-available latte. Oh boy, I’ll eat some crow if this ends up being the pair’s chance to show off their previously-undisplayed Swans and Merzbow influences.
Details about the record are scarce at the moment. It’s set for release sometime this fall. The standards making up the tracklist have yet to be announced, but it is known that the tracks were recorded live and that M. Ward co-arranged a 20-piece orchestra for the album. There is a 45-second teaser video embedded below, but it reveals little that I haven’t, besides a smidge of actual music from the record. If you want to know more, maybe ask the barista at your neighborhood Starbucks. His name is Dan.
• She & Him: http://www.sheandhim.com
• Columbia: http://www.columbiarecords.com
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