She & Him - Classics (2014)

American indie pop singer-songwriter duo She & Him have gone down the covers route on their latest studio offering Classics. An album that features 13 covers of old standards, some which date back to the 1930s. The duo which is made up of guitarist and vocalist M Ward and vocalist Zoey Deschanel have released a covers album before, 2011s “A Very She and Him Christmas”. But I was very curious when I found out they were trying their hands at old standards, songs which would have no doubt influenced the material on their first two albums and the sweet pop melodies they have come to be known for.

The sound on this release is classic She & Him, excuse the pun and features a mix of vintage pop, country, jazz, and folk. Lumped together She & Him’s sound has often been described as indie pop, or indeed alt-folk. The instrumentation on this album is quite simplistic despite the duo being backed by a 20-piece orchestra, but it aids beautifully the tenderness of these old songs and the melodic pop sensibilities which She & Him aim for. M Ward’s delicate country jazz guitar playing shines throughout and is a standout feature on the album, while Zoey’s sweet melodic vocals are gorgeous as always, adding in many respects an authentic touch to proceedings. The orchestral arrangements do a fantastic job in complementing the main vocal track without being overbearing in any way, with the subtle strings and horns moving between a jazz and pop style to delicately support the centre piece of the tracks and that is Zoe’s voice and M Ward’s guitar. The horns in particular are a highlight and give the recordings a vintage feel, making them sound like they could have been recorded when the originals were.

As for the tracks themselves, well the album kicks off with a cover of the old jazz standard “Stars Fell on Alabama” which the duo turn into a nice duet all be it low-key. Thing pick up a bit on the Goffin and King track “Oh No, Not My Baby”, which is one of the album’s standout tracks with its shuffling guitar and drum track and Zoe’s sweet vocal flourishes, and a sweet melodic interpretation of “It’s Not for Me to Say”. This great start to the album continues with a stellar cover of the Dusty Springfield track “Stay Awhile”, one of the more up-tempo tracks on the record. This rendition has a country-pop vibe to it sounding completely different from the Wall of Sound-like original and features some cool rockabilly guitar playing from M Ward. Next up is the classic Bacharach and David track “This Girl’s in Love with You” of which the duo do a very understated and melodic take on. The instrumental track is a standout on this one, with a very delicate orchestral performance, trombone solo and yet more fantastic jazz playing from M Ward. The first half of the album then comes to an end with a beautiful duet, Frank Sinatra’s “Time After Time” and an absolutely stunning “She” which M Ward take the lead vocal on. A midst a wonderful jazz arrangement that includes some splendid trumpet playing, I would say M Ward steals the limelight off Zoey with this rare solo vocal performance in what is arguably the cornerstone of the album. Moving into the second half of the record, things kick off positively with a very jazzy “Teach Me Tonight” in what contains a bubbly Deschanel vocal, before the album then begins to labour a bit with “It’s Always You” and a very disappointing version of the classic track “Unchained Melody”. Thankfully, the album does not end this way, and concludes with some solid renditions of “I’ll Never Be Free”, “Would You Like to Take a Walk” and the war-time standard “We’ll Meet Again”. A rendition which has a nice folk vibe to it.

All in all I think the duo to a more than adequate job in their take on these old standards. Zoe’s vocals shine through as they always do, but it is M Ward who steals the show on here, more so than on other She & Him records. His guitar playing is nothing short of brilliant as he moves between jazz, folk, country and rockabilly, while he also has more of a role vocally on this album, something which culminates in his fantastic vocal performance on “She”. There is nothing new, or indeed unusual sound-wise on here, although the added dimension of an orchestra spices things up a bit and the fact they recorded live with the orchestra does make things quite interesting as a listener in terms of hearing how the vocals and guitar fit in and combine with the other instruments. Classics is a solid job by this unlikely combination and puts an indie pop/alt-folk slant on some very old, but classic songs. 

A-

- Sam 

George Ezra - Waiting on Voyage (2014)

Waiting on Voyage is the debut album by twenty-one year old British singer/songwriter George Ezra, yet another in a long list of twenty-something year olds breaking through in this very in vogue acoustic-folk style. However, at the same time, this guy is quite different stylistically from the likes of Ed Sheeran and Jake Bugg largely thanks to his very distinctive singing voice.

George Ezra’s voice when you hear for the first time is a voice that you do not immediately think belongs to a twenty-one year old, and sounds more so like someone in their sixties, someone with years of singing behind them. With this in mind, I must confess that I don’t think I have heard a voice quite like this one on someone in the early stages of their career, and Ezra certainly has a voice way beyond his years. Sound-wise I would describe his voice as being a cross between Eddie Vedder and someone in the ilk of Robert Johnson, or other delta blues musicians, with its warm bluesy tone and deepness. It is this unique and very mature voice which more than anything ensures that Ezra’s music stands out within what is quite a saturated singer-songwriter market, and after hearing a couple of singles, made his debut album Waiting on Voyage that much more intriguing to find out if the songs themselves could match up to the singer.

Ezra’s music is very much acoustic-based (he uses a semi-acoustic guitar and occasionally a resonator) and contains a blend of folk, skiffle, blues, and pop. Yes the song-writing at this stage is quite simplistic and the music definitely owes a lot to Ezra’s unique voice and the overall sense of melody it portrays, but often when you have such a distinct sound in your armoury whether it be a distinctive guitar, or singing style, simplicity can work best, with complex arrangements or experimental sounds only working to distract the listener. With this in mind, at times the music on here does suffer a bit from over-production, with whoever is producing trying to give some of the tracks a modern pop kick to them, something which is totally unnecessary. Some of the tracks could do without the synths, sequencing and electronic backing as they do not add anything, and quite frankly do not work well with the style of music Ezra is playing.

So what tracks stand out on the album? Well the album kicks off with a great opener “Blame It on Me”, which contains some skiffle influences in the guitar playing and also has a great sing-a-long chorus, something most of the songs on here contain. “Budapest” is one of the singles on the album which began to get Ezra noticed in the music world, and is more a mellower folk track with a slight calypso feel to it especially in the vocals and guitar. It is on tracks like this one that you really get to hear the unique quality of Ezra’s voice and his very distinctive deep tone. “Cassy O” is the second single, and although lyrically it is a bit throw-a-way, it has a very nice country shuffle to it and does a good job in highlighting Ezra’s efficient rhythm guitar playing, a style that is quite experimental when it comes to different strum patterns. “Did You Hear the Rain” musically is perhaps the most interesting track on the record and begins with a very haunting delta-blues like moan, before Ezra begins singing a cappella in a deep bluesy voice which sounds as if it could have come straight from the cotton fields in the Southern states of America, it is truly something. The track then transitions into a bit of an alt-folk track full of mood and feeling in what is definitely one of the album highlights. “Drawing Board”, “Stand by Your Gun” and “Barcelona” are also other noteworthy tracks on what is a very varied album stylistically and one which keeps the listener guessing as to what will come next, with Ezra bouncing from style to style across each track. There are a few dud tracks on the record, namely “Leaving It Up to You”, “Breakaway” and “Over the Creek”, but on the whole these are the exception to the rule and do not really diminish the overall quality of the album.

Waiting on Voyage is a very interesting and eclectic first up effort from George Ezra. There are a lot of things going on here musically which stand out and the fact he is willing to move from style to style across the album is quite daring for a debut. At times the production does get a bit too much and sees some of the songs lose their focus a bit, with the production team going dangerously down the pop for pop sake road which tends to be employed a lot in this day and age. Despite this, there is definitely plenty to work with here and if anything his quite remarkable voice will ensure he has a future in the industry. It will be very interesting to see where he goes from here musically, especially as he begins to mature as a song-writer, while as the voice itself, maturity-wise is already there. 

A- 

- Sam