Volume Two

Actress Zooey Deschanel has nailed a role that legitimizes her as a singer-songwriter, not just some hipster starlet testing her cred.

Backed by songsmith M. Ward, She & Him's new LP is loaded with stripped down, classic pop songs that feature Deschanel's playful, though powerful, country drawl and guitarist Ward's modest but full rhythmic compositions. Here, his stylish vibrato playing seems to keep Deschanel bouncing, reaching higher in tone and cadence, clarifying those lovelorn lyrics of hers with full-voiced intent.

"Well, I am back in your good graces again. Remember when you told me that I was your only friend," sings Deschanel at the start of "Me and You," conjuring country-pop luminaries Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, and Loretta Lynn.

The collection is musically jovial, if at times a little bright for the lyric: "Why do I always want to sock it to you hard/ Let you know what love is like?" preens Deschanel on "Over and Over Again."

Volume Two confirms S&H is not imitation, not an act to go with Deschanel’s jet-black bangs and mischievous smile. It is an exclamation point to the duo’s laudable debut.

• Album: Volume Two (2010)
• Artist: She and Him
• Label: Merge Records
• Songs: (1) Thieves (2) In The Sun (3) Don't Look Back (4) Ridin' In My Car (5) Lingering Still (6) Me and You (7) Gonna Get Along Without You (8) Home (9) I'm Gonna Make It Better (10) Sing (11) Over And Over Again (12) Brand New Shoes (13) If You Can't Sleep