She & Him - In The Sun

Let’s face it: She & Him’s legions of swooning fans haven’t exactly been inspired by the sonorous, heavy-lidded M. Ward, who’s integral, vastly under-appreciated ‘him’ has been playing second fiddle to Zooey Deschanel’s captivating ‘she’ for an entire album now – and any M. Ward fans vying for Matt to poke his head out of his shell and reveal his own, considerable talents will be a tad disappointed by ‘In The Sun’. Don’t let the dual band name fool you – She & Him is still very much The Zooey Deschanel Show, M. Ward forever playing the voiceless butler to Zooey’s loquacious society girl.

It’s a terrible pity that Matt has so resolutely constrained himself to the sidelines throughout the course of She & Him’s career – when they live up to their double-act title, they really do make sweet, sweet music together – think of ‘Volume One’s finest moment, the slow-burning ‘You Really Gotta Hold On Me’, where M. Ward’s sexy, lethargic drawl trailed it’s heels languidly behind Zooey’s chirpy croon, like a sullen teenager being dragged shopping by his incessantly cheery mother.

Despite this disappointment, the first single from She & Him’s sophomore release, ‘In The Sun’ is pretty darn lovely – heralded by a cheery piano line, it swells into a perfectly orchestrated, sun-kissed pop song, propped by subtle, swoonsome strings and a chirpy guitar lines that never intrudes on the track’s integral, sweet simplicity. The track also features a delightful cameo from twee lynchpins Tilly & the Wall, who’s affably ramshackle call-and-response on the song’s chorus lends the track just the right amount of character.

Overall, there’s no shortage of sweetness on ‘In The Sun’, but there’s that niggling one-sidedness to She & Him’s winsome romanticism – after all, the perfect girl is more than deserving of the perfect boy. This reviewer understands that Ms. Deschanel is betrothed to another, but I think it’s time for Matt to get down one on knee, bust out the roses, and duly respond to Zooey’s doe-eyed wooing with a little romance of his own – if only so She & Him’s metaphorical marriage can have it’s own, perfect Hollywood ending.