Matt Ward (M. Ward) is an indie singer-songwriter from Portland who manages to combine country, blues, pop, and folk into a unique package. He’s toured with Bright Eyes and is mentioned in the same space as the Decemberists, the Shins and Feist. I keep expecting to see his name on the Garden State, or some other Zach Branff film, soundtrack.

Zooey Deschanel (awesome, awesome name) is an actress who has small roles in films like Almost Famous, and increasingly larger roles in films like Elf, and was Trillian on Hitchhiker’s Guide.

Matt and Zooey met on The Go-Getter, in which they sang a duet together. Some correspondences led to the formation of She & Him and their first cd Volume One. The first single, Why don’t you let me stay here, is kinda bouncy and folksy. Another of my favourites is their cover of Smokey Robinson’s You Really Got a Hold on Me, when Zooey channels some serious Patsy Cline.

She has a distinctive voice, he has a way of arranging the music that is simple and effective. There’s a cute, retro, kitschy feel to the songs. Paste magazine said in their review,

the 13 songs on Volume One are lovely throwbacks to blissful 60s pop, tastefully arranged and produced by the uber-talented Ward

They should know, they just named She & Him — Volume One as their best album of 2008.