Melt Away: A Tribute To Brian Wilson She & Him

• 1 Darlin’ 02:57
• 2 Wouldn’t It Be Nice 02:55
• 3 ‘Til I Die 03:21
• 4 Deirdre 03:19
• 5 Melt Away 03:49
• 6 Good To My Baby 01:50
• 7 Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) 03:30
• 8 Don’t Worry Baby 03:22
• 9 This Whole World 03:06
• 10 Kiss Me Baby 02:49
• 11 Do It Again 02:36
• 12 Heads You Win–Tails I Lose 01:51
• 13 Please Let Me Wonder 03:02
• 14 Meant For You 01:30
• Total Runtime 39:57

Info for Melt Away: A Tribute To Brian Wilson

She & Him’s seventh studio album is a loving tribute to one of the greatest living American songwriters and singers, Brian Wilson. Melt Away: A Tribute to Brian Wilson finds Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward diving deep into the legendary artist’s extensive songbook, offering fascinating and delectable new spins on time-honored classics and overlooked gems alike. These fourteen covers are infused with the familiar magic that She & Him fans know and love, opening a new window into Wilson’s iconic catalog. Wilson even features on a song with Zooey and M. Ward for the album, “Do It Again.” The band have enjoyed a friendship, and mutual appreciation, with Wilson over the years and She & Him was previously a guest vocalist on his 2015 album, No Pier Pressure.

“In the spring of 2020, we started a list of our favorite Brian songs — a very long list,” the duo explains. “We chose songs without any regard to their chart performance. The obscure ones hit us just as hard as the more popular songs — and all are ripe for re-imagining, re-interpreting, and re-inventing. Brian writes songs of beauty and loneliness and vulnerability better than anyone — and by sequencing them next to popular songs of confidence and love and fun, it creates a more complete picture of life on earth.”

The inviting, twangy album opener, Brian Wilson and Mike Love’s “Darlin’,” (from the Beach Boys 1967 album Wild Honey) sets a high bar that She & Him meets throughout. The duo’s devoted take on “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” is especially revealing. Most wouldn’t consider touching the stone-cold classic, yet they lean into it with unabashed joy. Elsewhere, the band’s sublime version of Wilson’s mournful “Til I Die” is a three-minute and 22 second marvel. Deschanel's spectacular vocal turn on the criminally overlooked Wilson solo cut "Melt Away" transforms the original's lush, string-heavy treatment into a post-modern folk-pop gem. Other highlights include the surf-rock throwback "Do It Again," featuring vocals from Brian Wilson himself (!) and the graceful "Please Let Me Wonder," a long-treasured Wilson album cut. Finally, the Beach Boy's timeless "Don't Worry Baby" might be the album's centerpiece and most affecting track. M.Ward's earthy, laconic lead vocal layered over an exquisite arrangement feels organic and completely new - just like this album, a stunner in every was"

She & Him:
Zooey Deschanel, vocals, piano
M. Ward, guitar

She & Him
Zooey Deschanel and Matt Ward, aka She & Him, are as comfortable and complementary a musical pair as Les Paul and Mary Ford. Matt and Zooey make music for an eternal springtime, when the temperature is warm enough to go riding with the top (or at least the windows) rolled down and the radio turned up.

In 2008, Zooey Deschanel and Matt Ward were both accomplished artists in their own right—Deschanel as an actor, Ward as a songwriter and guitarist. But when they joined forces as She & Him, something magical happened. Deschanel's lush, smoky lead vocals found their perfect counterpart in Ward's rasp, while their shared interest in the classic pop production of George Martin and Phil Spector gave the depths of Deschanel's songwriting an inner glow. Following a break after the release of 2016's Christmas Party, She & Him return with a set of songs that capture the feeling of an eternal springtime, rain coming down through rays of golden sunlight.

This album contains no booklet.