She & Him are about to set forth with some new takes on old material in their covers album release, Classics, which arrives just in time for Christmas 2014. It’s made up of a collection of timeless jazz and pop numbers giving guitarist M. Ward and vocalist Zooey Deschanel a solid platform to return with following up on their last release of all new material Volume 3.
The question is whether or not the album works as a genuinely credible fresh take on the classic tracks included on the covers record, or does it just sound like an easy way to get an album out in time for the Chrimbix gift buyers period. It’s a cynical question to ask, but probably an important one in terms of our take on the credibility of the band’s decision to go for covers instead of toiling away on new material.
Set for release on LP, CD and digital download on the 2nd December 2014, Classics may not be the most original effort on the face of things from She & Him, but what it lacks in original songs it does a lot to make up for with an element of their own take on the classics. From the tracks that we’ve heard – including Frank Perkins and Mitchell Parish’s jazz number, Stars Fell On Alabama; Gerry Goffin and Carole King’s Oh No, Not My Baby; Dusty Springfield’s Stay Awhile; and Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne’s 1947 jazz standard Time After Time – there’s enough promise to make the album a fair contender.
What we do like is the variation of songs as the duo have avoided the trap of producing a covers album that is stuck in any one particular genre. Though pop and jazz is the order of the day of the record’s conception, there’s a good amount of interpretation throughout to give it the potential to be one of the better covers releases of recent years.
Of the four preview tracks that the band has streamed online, our favourite has got to be their rendition of Stay Awhile, which has got a smartly clipped delivery of the classic chorus. The saxemaphone solo is a good addition and M. Ward’s bouncing electric riff solos are solid, sub-surfed and catchy. Check out the music video stream below to listen for yourself and watch the crazy special effects they’ve managed to get.
Oh No, Not My Baby, is pretty cool too, with an ace, light-touch electric guitar rhythm flitting beneath the surface. Deschanel’s vocals are as crisp and pure as they ever have been, but there’s a deeper timbre to her usual ring to bring something new to the party, which gives the song the soul it needs to impress.
You can see the full track list below to see what to expect. It includes their cover of It’s Not For Me To Say by Johnny Mathis (written by Robert Allen and Al Stillman in 1957), This Girl’s In Love With You (a new addition to the long line of female versions of This Guy’s in Love with You,written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and recorded by Herb Alpert), and Charles Aznavour’s She, Gene De Paul and Sammy Cahn’s Teach Me Tonight.
It also includes Johnny Burke & Jimmy Van Heusen’s It’s Only You (performed originally by Frank Sinatra), the Righteous Brothers’ Unchained Melody, Tennessee Ernie Ford and Kay Starr’s I’ll Never Be Free, Would You Like to Take a Walk? with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Mort Dixon and Billy Rose, and Vera Lynn’s We’ll Meet Again.
All told, there’s going to be some greats and some so-sos on Classics, but we’ll have to wait for the full release before we can say for sure how it’s turned out. What do know though is that it’s far from lacking in credibility as She & Him have trawled the archives of classic pop and jazz standards to lovingly craft a reintroduction to some of the old greats.
She & Him, Classics track list:
1. Stars Fell On Alabama
2. Oh No, Not My Baby
3. It’s Not For Me To Say
4. Stay Awhile
5. This Girl’s In Love With You
6. Time After Time
7. She
8. Teach Me Tonight
9. It’s Always You
10. Unchained Melody – She & Him feat. the Chapin Sisters
11. I’ll Never Be Free
12. Would You Like To Take a Walk?
13. We’ll Meet Again
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She & Him, Stay Awhile music video:
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