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TRACK: This Is Not A Test

WHO: She & Him, actress Zooey Deschanel’s pet musical project – a duo formed with Bright Eyes cohort M Ward.

WHAT: Inoffensive Radio 2-friendly AOR country tweeness.

THE HYPE: “Deschanel is a natural hyphenate, an actress-musician-crafty girl.” - The New York Times

WE SAY: No sooner have we put the knife back into the drawer after jabbing away at Scarlett Johansson than another Hollywood starlet decides that we should be allowed to listen to their musical stylings too. Has Zooey Deschanel got lucky with her timing? Maybe ScarJo has taken the critical bullet for her and she can go about her tuneful business in peace – or will it simpy hit a market primed to expect more puffy self-indulgence?

Although it may become the default setting to overlook rather than slate them, She & Him's attempts to plug into an easygoing Linda Rondstadt vibe aren’t going to speak to many of us here in the UK. There is a innocent simplicity that is endearing – it feels like a dreamy country version of The Sundays. Where Johansson’s Anywhere That I Lay My Head was caked in layers of production designed to mask her failings, This Is Not A Test is transparent, stripped down to the bare acoustic bone. This focuses on Zooey’s self-penned songs, delivered as if Dusty Springfield had gone to Nashville, rather than Memphis. All in all, it’s the unlaboured sense of ease and relaxation that marks it out – there’s little about it that screams for attention, even the name She & Him has an unassuming, deflective quality.

Let’s allow Zooey the final word: “Sometimes I like the movies I’m in, sometimes I don’t,” she said. “Whereas this, I could say: This is me. I like it. I stand by it.”

IF YOU ONLY NEED TO KNOW ONE THING: This isn’t some spur-of-the-minute thing for Zooey. The piano-playing former choir singer had been writing songs on the quiet for many a year, plus she was in also an Andrews Sisters-styled cabaret act.

WHERE CAN I GET IT: Volume One is out now.

FIND MORE: www.myspace.com/sheandhim

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