Zooey Deschanel quite possibly made late-night talk show history last week, as the doe-eyed actress made two separate stops to the CBS’s Late Show with David Letterman to promote two very different projects. On Tuesday night Deschanel made her first appearance of the week for the standard chit-chat spot to promote her Fox sitcom New Girl, where she plays the adorkable Jessica Day. On Friday night she returned to the Ed Sullivan Theater, this time with her musical collaborator M. Ward it tow, to perform as She & Him.

The dapper-dressed indie-pop duo, who earlier in the week released their latest studio album Volume 3 via Merge Records, called in the reinforcements for their take on the record’s lead single – Never Wanted Your Love – as they were augmented by a pair of backup singers and a four-piece string section. Let’s check it out…

She & Him – Never Wanted Your Love

She & Him will kick off their summer North American tour with a gig at the historic Ryman Auditorium on June 15.

As much as we enjoy watching Zooey Deschanel playing the adorkable Jessica Day on the FOX sitcom the New Girl, we’re much bigger fans of She & Him, her musical partnership with singer-songwriter M. Ward. On May 7 the indie-pop duo will release their latest studio album, Volume 3, via Merge Records. As with their past releases the record was produced by Ward, with the majority of the 14-track effort penned by Deschanel, which also includes three covers and a slew of guest appearances from the likes of Joey Spampinato (NRBQ), Mike Watt, Tilly and the Wall, Pierre de Reeder (Rilo Kiley) and Tom Hagerman (Devotchka).

Yesterday She & Him released the album’s lead single Never Wanted Your Love, which features everything we’ve come to love from their brand of vintage pop. Let’s take a listen…

She & Him – Never Wanted Your Love

She & Him will head out on a 18-date summer tour, which kicks off with a show at the historic Ryman Auditorium, on June 13.

As we reported, HT faves She & Him have completed work on their third studio album (besides a Christmas-themed LP). The band, which features M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel, today officially announced that the creatively titled Volume 3 will be released via Merge on May 7th. The pair also revealed dates for a cross-country tour with Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell and Camera Obscura.

The tour will kick off on June 13th at the iconic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and will hit venues across the country including NYC’s SummerStage, the Greek in Berkeley and Chicago’s Aragon before it wraps up at Wolf Trap on July 11th.

Here’s the tracklisting for Volume 3 and the tour dates…

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dear twitter, just finished new @sheandhim record with @ZooeyDeschanel – late spring release more details soon -x m

Friday, January 25, 2013 2:59 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@mwardtweeting

M. Ward

M. Ward, the “Him” in She & Him alongside “She,” actress and singer Zooey Deschanel, moments ago sent out the above tweet announcing a new LP from the duo. As the tweet states, the record – which will be their fourth and first since 2011′s holiday set, A Very She & Him Christmas – is expected to be released “late spring” with more info to follow soon. Their debut album, Volume One, was issued in 2008 on Merge Records and was followed in 2010 by Volume Two, also on Merge.

Just when you thought that Zooey Deschanel couldn’t be anymore adorable, they went ahead and turned her into a cartoon in order to create a music video for She & Him’s take on the holiday classic Baby, It’s Cold Outside from last year’s A Very She & Him Christmas. Both Zooey and Matt get the animated treatment in this vintage looking clip that has Zooey going to Kathy Bates in Misery length extremes to keep Matt inside with her on a snowy winter’s day. Let’s check it out…

She & Him – Baby, It’s Cold Outside

[Originally Published: 12/07/2010]

When it comes time for selecting songs for Cover Wars, I often skip a song because there are just too many covers of it. I Put a Spell on You, a song from 1956 written and recorded by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, is a prime example. So tough choices need to be made, we can’t include every version – because let’s be honest, who wants to listen to this song 30 times in a row (though, someday I’m going to write the All Along The Watchtower Cover Wars and we are going to include a LOT of them)? So, we’re going to cap it at 11 versions, try and make it a diverse sampling – if I didn’t include your favorite, feel free to let me know in the comments. On a personal note, I’ve loved this song since its inclusion on a favorite VHS tape from my childhood titled Baseball Funny Side, or at least I’m pretty sure that’s the one.

The Contestants:

The Animals recorded this cover on their 1966 album Animalisms. The song just seems built for Eric Burdon. There is a great version of him singing it in 2008 on YouTube but emedding is disabled, so you have to click here to check it out.

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M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel brought She & Him to The Tonight Show last night, where the pair performed The Christmas Waltz from their A Very She & Him Christmas LP for the TV audience…

She & Him – Christmas Waltz

[via The Audio Perv]

If you didn’t think it was possible for Zooey Deschanel to get anymore adorable, then think again. The doe-eyed musician/actress will be featured on the  soundtrack to Disney’s reboot of Winnie The Pooh, which is due in theaters on July 15. Deschanel’s contributions include her take on the classic Winnie the Pooh theme song, A Very Important Thing To Do, and the original end-credit song, So Long, which was written and performed with her She & Him band mate M. Ward. Zooey also lent her vocals to the tracks Everything is Honey and Pooh’s Finale, where she sings alongside the actors who voiced  Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Owl, Rabbit, Eeyore, Kanga and Roo.

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Finally, we’ve got some news out of the Felice Brothers camp that we wanted to pass along. As we previously mentioned, the band will release their new studio album Celebration, Florida on May 10, the group’s first on Fat Possum Records. In conjunction with the release the band is holding a photo contest, inviting fans to create signs spelling out “Celebration, Florida” and the album’s release date.  All submissions will be posted on the Felice Brothers’ various sites and the band will pick three winners, who will win this nifty prize pack – a poster and copies of Celebration, Florida; Yonder Is The Clock; and their self-titled album, all signed by the band.

As an added bonus the Felice Brothers are currently streaming the album’s first single Ponzi, which is also currently available on iTunes for purchase.
The Felice Brothers “Ponzi” by fatpossum

There is no denying the unbelievable adorableness of She & Him’s doey-eyed lead singer Zooey Deschanel – check out her blog which completely reinforces that statement. Sure, we’re huge fans of M. Ward too, but it’s the actress/singer who is the star of the show in the indie-pop duo. The pair, who’s sophomore album Volume Two came out last year, have just released this 1960s mod meets sci-fi video for Don’t Look Back…

She & Him – Don’t Look Back

For the second consecutive year at Hidden Track, we concocted our innovative little experiment for the year-end Best Albums list. Instead of picking the old fashioned way – subjectively – we opted for something a little different: a collaborative, collective list that incorporates the opinions of everybody here at HT.

To begin, we devised an all-encompassing list of well over 100 nominees, whereby most everything our contributors recommended made the list. Then we invited our crew of writers to independently and blindly vote on the whole list on a scale of 1 to 20 (20 = five stars). We ended up with varying degrees of familiarity with the nominees as some folks voted on just about everything, while some just a few. From there, we deployed our egghead algorithm for rating albums: (two times the average rating) + (the total number of votes). At that point, we took the top 25 highest scores and presto: the Hidden Track 25 Best Albums of 2010. No bullshit, no big opinions; just the results.

We’re on to day two of on our week long countdown, let’s check out albums number 16-20…

20) Marco Benevento – Between The Needles & Nightfall

Key Tracks: Greenpoint, Between the Needles, Numbers

Sounds Like: Brad Mehldau meets Tortoise

The Skinny: Marco Benevento’s latest solo record is the prolific keyboard player’s most impressive release yet. Bassist Reed Mathis’ sense of space and harmony along with drummer Andrew Barr’s subtly explosive poly-rhythmic playing lay the foundation for Benevento’s hook-laden melodies, shape-shifting piano, and circuit-bent sounds. While his first two studio releases were solid, Between the Needles and Nightfall has a cohesiveness not found on either that allows Marco’s songwriting to truly shine. The one-two punch of Greenpoint and Between the Needles at the front of the album set the overall tone for the album, while Marco’s solo at the end of Numbers highlights the whole thing.

READ ON for the next four albums in our countdown…

With the countdown to Santa’s arrival coming to a close, we thought we’d get into the Christmas spirit around these parts with some holiday music courtesy of HT faves She & Him. During Matt and Zooey’s recent appearance on Conan, the indie-pop duo recorded this web exclusive performance of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas with some assistance from CoCo himself on guitar. READ ON to watch the video…

Wow. Just wow. I can’t think of a way to describe the multitudes of music I saw yesterday, it was a phenomenal day and there are still two days of the festival left. Yesterday’s lineup was a force to be reckoned with and as at every Bonnaroo, one has to make a plan of attack as to who they want to see and when. There is just way too much to choose from. But alas sacrifices and rationalizations must be had in the decision making process.

[Tenneessee Shines with the Carolina Chocolate Drops]

The weather’s been a hot one, that’s for damn sure. It’s not as bad as years past and as long as one stays hydrated it’s easy to get 12 hours of music in and I did exactly that. My day started out with the traditional bluegrass foot stomping stylings of the Carolina Chocolate Drops.

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The Carolina Chocolate Drops set included a song titled Sandy Boys and one called Jack of Diamonds which was the first song the band did together. I really enjoyed CCD’s set and their talk of African influence on string band music and a discussion of the history of the songs they performed. Other highlights include Geniune Negro Jig, Your Baby Ain’t Sweet Like Mine, and two covers Jackson and Blu Cantrell’s Hit ‘Em Up Style, which got the joint jumping. READ ON for more from Jennifer on Day Two of Bonnaroo…

How I’ve missed thee, Hidden Track – it’s been too long! But alas, I’m back in full force this coming weekend to bring you the best coverage from the one and only Bonnaroo! Before I hit the road, I wanted to chime in on what I believe will be the top five not-to-be-missed performances of the weekend.

So, let’s pack up our AC/DC Bags, get down to the nitty gritty and get this show on the road…

5. She & Him (Friday, This Tent 5pm to 6:15pm):

What can I say about this band? I’ve been a fan of Zooey Deschanel since her role as Anita in Almost Famous. Her voice has a timeless quality and Matt Ward’s musical prowess compliments her in a way not many could. Volume Two has been getting heavy rotation from me out on my deck while I’m grilling out or working in the yard. A great ‘go to’ music for hanging out and enjoying the spring and summertime weather. The music is absolutely perfect for a late afternoon performance on Friday and will help to set the tone for the rest of the weekend.

READ ON for the four sets Jennifer’s most excited to see…

She & Him @ Bowery Ballrom – March 29

The dreary rain that swept across NYC on Monday seemed the perfect precursor to the first of She & Him’s two sold out gigs at the cozy Bowery Ballroom. While their music isn’t necessarily reflective of a rainy day, their mellow mood approach is the perfect elixir after sloshing around in puddles.

It was also especially appropriate for me since the last time I saw She & Him was at the 2008 Newport Folk Festival after a torrential downpour.

The duo, comprised of actress Zooey Deschanel and singer/songwriter/Monster of Folk M Ward, recently released their second retro-pop offering, Volume Two, two years after Volume One arrived on the scene and established them as one of the music scene’s most unique acts.

Accompanied by four other solid musicians, including a pair of talented singers crushing the backing vocals in the best possible all way all night, Ward and Deschanel put on an almost mystical performance in front of a packed house at Bowery from the openings notes of Riding in My Car to the final notes of Sweet Darlin’. READ ON for more from Luke on She & Him…

On March 23rd, our favorite actress and singer-songwriter music act – She & Him – will release their sophomore album Volume Two. The album features a mix of Deschanel-penned originals, along couple of deep covers from NRBQ and Skeeter Davis all tied together by M. Ward’s sepia-drenched production. Here’s the video for the album’s first single – In The Sun…

She & Him – In The Sun