Volume One (She & Him album)
Encyclopedia
Volume One is the first album by She & Him
, a collaboration between M. Ward
and actress Zooey Deschanel
. It was released by Merge Records
on March 18, 2008.
The album debuted at #81 on the Billboard Charts in its first week, and climbed to #71 in its second week. It has received a strong response from critics, receiving a score of 76/100 on MetaCritic
, indicating overall positive reviews. It was also voted the #1 Album of 2008 by Paste Magazine. It came 30th in the 2008 Pazz and Jop poll. Volume One has sold 176,000 copies to date in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan
and Billboard Brazil.
The song "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?
" was number 64 on Rolling Stone
and M. Ward
in a semi-animated enactment released in 2008. The second video, released in 2009, was a collaboration of talent from the film (500) Days of Summer, including co-stars Zooey Deschanel
and Joseph Gordon-Levitt
with director Marc Webb
, choreographer Michael Rooney, and producer Mason Novick
.
She & Him
She & Him is an American indie pop duo consisting of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward . The band's first album, Volume One, was released on Merge Records in March 2008...
, a collaboration between M. Ward
M. Ward
Matthew Stephen Ward, known by his stage name M. Ward, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who rose to prominence in the Portland, Oregon music scene. In addition to his solo work he is known as a member of She & Him and Monsters of Folk.-Career:...
and actress Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Claire Deschanel is an American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter. In 1999, Deschanel made her film debut in Mumford, followed by her breakout role as young protagonist William Miller's troubled older sister Anita in Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous...
. It was released by Merge Records
Merge Records
Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as a way to release music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded to include artists from around the world and records...
on March 18, 2008.
The album debuted at #81 on the Billboard Charts in its first week, and climbed to #71 in its second week. It has received a strong response from critics, receiving a score of 76/100 on MetaCritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, indicating overall positive reviews. It was also voted the #1 Album of 2008 by Paste Magazine. It came 30th in the 2008 Pazz and Jop poll. Volume One has sold 176,000 copies to date in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...
and Billboard Brazil.
The song "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?
Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?
"Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" is a song from She & Him's first album, Volume One.-Critical reception:Rolling Stone magazine ranked this song 64th in its list "The 100 Best Singles of 2008", considering it "a retro-pop duet with sweetly plaintive vocals"...
" was number 64 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Claire Deschanel is an American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter. In 1999, Deschanel made her film debut in Mumford, followed by her breakout role as young protagonist William Miller's troubled older sister Anita in Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous...
and M. Ward
M. Ward
Matthew Stephen Ward, known by his stage name M. Ward, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who rose to prominence in the Portland, Oregon music scene. In addition to his solo work he is known as a member of She & Him and Monsters of Folk.-Career:...
in a semi-animated enactment released in 2008. The second video, released in 2009, was a collaboration of talent from the film (500) Days of Summer, including co-stars Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Claire Deschanel is an American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter. In 1999, Deschanel made her film debut in Mumford, followed by her breakout role as young protagonist William Miller's troubled older sister Anita in Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous...
and Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt is an American actor whose career as both a child and adult has included television series and theatrical films....
with director Marc Webb
Marc Webb
Marc Preston Webb is an American music video, short film and major motion picture director. He directed the 2009 romantic comedy-drama Days of Summer and is currently directing the 2012 Spider-Man reboot The Amazing Spider-Man.-Life and career:Webb was born in Bloomington, Indiana, the son of...
, choreographer Michael Rooney, and producer Mason Novick
Mason Novick
Mason Novick is a film producer and talent manager based in Los Angeles, California.-Career:His credits include Red Eye , Juno , Days of Summer and Jennifer's Body...
.
Critical reception
Volume One received almost universally positive reviews, landed on the Village Voice's 'Pazz and Jop' poll as one of the year’s best albums and was named the best record of 2008 by Paste Magazine. Patrick Caldwell of the Austin American Statesman wrote "The album gently rambled through 13 tracks of sun-dappled pop, with a gentle Orbisonian charm and sweet, wistful vocals from Deschanel."Track listing
All songs written by Zooey Deschanel, except where noted.Performance
- Zooey DeschanelZooey DeschanelZooey Claire Deschanel is an American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter. In 1999, Deschanel made her film debut in Mumford, followed by her breakout role as young protagonist William Miller's troubled older sister Anita in Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous...
- Vocals, PianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, Percussion, XylophoneXylophoneThe xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets... - M. WardM. WardMatthew Stephen Ward, known by his stage name M. Ward, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who rose to prominence in the Portland, Oregon music scene. In addition to his solo work he is known as a member of She & Him and Monsters of Folk.-Career:...
- Keys, GuitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, Slide GuitarSlide guitarSlide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
, String Arrangement, backing vocals on "I Should Have Known Better" and "Change Is Hard" - Tom Hagerman - Strings
- Mike CoykendallMike CoykendallMike Coykendall is a musician and studio engineer. He released three critically acclaimed albums with San Francisco's Old Joe Clarks before moving to Portland, Oregon in 1999. He set up a home studio, and has recorded such luminaries as M Ward, Richmond Fontaine, Beth Orton, Tin Hat Trio, Bright Eyes...
- Engineering, Percussion, BassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, Guitar, Mouth Bass - Mike MogisMike MogisMike Mogis is a Nebraskan producer/engineer and multi-instrumentalist who, along with his brother A.J. Mogis, founded Presto! Recording Studios ....
- Engineering, Mixing, Percussion, Steel Guitar - Rachel BlumbergRachel BlumbergRachel Blumberg is an American drummer and singer, best known for her tenure as the drummer for the indie rock band The Decemberists. Blumburg was a member of many Portland, Oregon-based indie bands, including Sissyface, Boycrazy, Norfolk & Western, The Minders and M...
- Percussion - Peter BroderickPeter BroderickPeter Broderick is an American musician and composer from Carlton, Oregon. He has released solo material under his own name, been a member of Efterklang, and played with several ensembles as a session musician.-Biography:...
- Strings - Adam Selzer - Percussion
- Paul Brainerd - Steel
Production
- Adam Selzer - MixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
, EngineeringEngineeringEngineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of... - Doug Van Sloun - Mastering
- Maggie Fost - Design
Charts
| Chart (2008) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| The Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... (U.S.) |
71 |
| Billboard Top Independent Albums (U.S.) | 8 |
Accolades
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paste Magazine | US | Signs of Life 2008: Best Music | 2008 | #1 |
| WERS WERS In June 2007, WERS inaugurated a translator station on 96.5 MHz in New Bedford, Massachusetts, relaying WERS's programming to New Bedford and nearby communities... Boston |
US | 50 Best Albums of the Year | 2008 | #5 |