Volume One (She & Him album)

Volume One is the first album by She & Him, a collaboration between M. Ward and actress Zooey Deschanel. It was released by Merge Records on March 18, 2008.

For other musical releases with this title, see Volume One (disambiguation).
Volume One
Studio album by
She & Him
ReleasedMarch 18, 2008 (2008-03-18)
RecordedDecember 2006, February–March 2007
GenreIndie pop, alternative country
Length36:27
LabelMerge, Double Six
ProducerM. Ward
She & Him chronology
Volume One
(2008)		 Volume Two
(2010)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic76/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The A.V. ClubA−[3]
Drowned in Sound8/10[4]
NME7/10
Pitchfork7.4/10[5]
Rolling Stone[6]
Silent Sound Waves[7]
Slant Magazine[8]
Spin[9]

The album debuted at No. 81 on the Billboard charts in its first week, and climbed to No. 71 in its second week.[10] It has received a strong response from critics, receiving a score of 76/100 on Metacritic, indicating overall positive reviews. It was also voted the No. 1 Album of 2008 by Paste.[11] It came 30th in the 2008 Pazz and Jop poll.[12] Volume One has sold over 300,000 copies to date in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The song "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" was No. 64 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008[13] and two different music videos of it were produced. The first video featured Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward in a semi-animated enactment released in 2008.[14] The second video, released in 2009, was a collaboration of talent from the film (500) Days of Summer, including co-stars Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt with director Marc Webb, choreographer Michael Rooney, and producer Mason Novick.[15]

Critical reception

Volume One received positive reviews, and landed on the Village Voice's 'Pazz and Jop' poll as one of the year’s best albums and was named the best record of 2008 by Paste magazine. Patrick Caldwell of the Austin American Statesman wrote "The album gently rambled through 13 tracks of sun-dappled pop, with a gentle Orbisonian charm and sweet, wistful vocals from Deschanel." [16]

Accolades
Accolades for Volume One
Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Paste US Signs of Life 2008: Best Music[17] 2008 1[11]
WERS Boston US 50 Best Albums of the Year 2008 5[18]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Zooey Deschanel, except where noted.

No.TitleLength
1."Sentimental Heart"2:36
2."Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?"2:31
3."This Is Not a Test"3:31
4."Change Is Hard"3:03
5."I Thought I Saw Your Face Today"2:50
6."Take It Back"2:37
7."I Was Made for You"2:31
8."You Really Got a Hold on Me" (William Robinson, Jr.)3:59
9."Black Hole"2:12
10."Got Me"2:46
11."I Should Have Known Better" (Lennon–McCartney)3:39
12."Sweet Darlin'" (Z. Deschanel/J. Schwartzman)2:41
13."Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" (Traditional)1:37

Singles
  • "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" (January 2008)

Personnel

Performance

She and Him

  • Zooey Deschanel – songwriter, vocals, piano, keyboards (5, 6, 7, 10), percussion (1), xylophone (4)
  • M. Ward – producer, guitar, vocals (4, 8, 11), keyboards (1, 10, 12), slide guitar (4, 9), bass (9)

Additional musicians

  • Tom Hagerman – strings (1, 6)
  • Mike Coykendall – engineering, mixing, bass, percussion (1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11), guitar (3, 9), mouth bass (11)
  • Mike Mogis – engineering, mixing, percussion (1, 12), steel guitar (4)
  • Rachel Blumberg – percussion (5, 7, 9, 12)
  • Peter Broderick – strings (5, 12)
  • Adam Selzer – percussion (12)
  • Paul Brainard – steel guitar (6, 11)

Production

Charts
Weekly chart performance for Volume One
Chart (2008) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[19] 71
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[20] 18
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[21] 8
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[22] 4

References
  1. "Volume One by She & Him". Metacritic. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  2. "Volume One". AllMusic. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
  3. Rizov, Vadim (2008-03-17). "She & Him: Volume One | Music | Music Review". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  4. Dean, Will (2008-07-24). "She & Him - Volume One / Releases / Releases". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  5. "She & Him: Volume One: Pitchfork Record Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on March 12, 2008. Retrieved March 11, 2008.
  6. "Rolling Stone Music | Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  7. "She & Him - Volume One (Review)". Silent Sound Waves. 2009-01-08. Archived from the original on 2012-02-19. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  8. Newlin, Jimmy (2008-03-16). "She & Him Volume One". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2013-02-13.
  9. Young, Jon. "She & Him, 'Volume One' (Merge)". Spin. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  10. The Billboard 200, Billboard, 12-04-2008. Retrieved 16-06-2009.
  11. Cervantes, Carlo. "She & Him: Volume One :: Music :: Features :: Paste". Paste. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  12. "New York Pazz and Jop Albums". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  13. "The 100 Best Songs of 2008" Rolling Stone (December 25, 2008). Retrieved 2009-01-12.
  14. "She & Him: Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? (Video)". Prefixmag.com. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  15. Breznican, Anthony (2009-08-05). "Zooey and Joe are out to steal hearts with a music video". USA Today. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  16. Caldwell, Patrick (2010-03-16). "Austin TX music: Music listings, bands, music news, reviews, SXSW and ACL". Austin360.com. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  17. Edwards, Aaron. "Signs of Life 2008: Best Music :: Music :: Features :: Paste". Paste. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  18. WERS.org
  19. "She & Him Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  20. "She & Him Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard.
  21. "She & Him Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard.
  22. "She & Him Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.
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