Though Halloween has not quite passed us by (indeed, the preponderance of Pumpkin Spice Lattés at Starbucks is as good a testimony as any that autumn is still very much in season), Christmas is already in the air. Specifically, the sounds of She & Him's Christmas album is in the air.
Maybe Christmas isn't your thing. Maybe Zooey Deschanel isn't your thing (If Deschanel doesn't turn your crank, I must ask, who are you?). If either of these cases is true, well, gird your loins for a very painful holiday season.
Deschanel and partner-in-crime (but not partner-in-life. That honor is given to indie's ultimate man-crush, Ben Gibbard) M. Ward put a new spin on old Christmas favorites. Much has already been said — in other publications — about Deschanel's ethereal, melancholic voice and Ward's whimsical guitar melodies, but the one-two punch of She & Him gives the joyful carols of yore a sugar-spun dollop of nostalgic.
While perhaps not the most logical sound (Christmas is the time of year when families get together to argue about the consistency of the walnut cranberry stuffing in that turkey — who'd want to reminisce about that?) to describe the birth of baby Jesus or the transcontinental flight of Santa Claus and his nine reindeer steeds, the often times moody A Very She & Him Christmas does hold some promise for the rest of the year, if listening to Christmas songs in June or July appeals to you. Maybe it does. I won't judge.
All facetiousness aside, while I found myself liking the album, it is ultimately a difficult sell. Christmas albums are a niche market — generally speaking, they alienate other religious groups and/or ethnicities that don't celebrate the holiday, who might otherwise be fans. Furthermore, by virtue of She & Him's melancholic aesthetic on this particular album, the listener of A Very She & Him Christmas has to be part of a very specific socio-religious group in a very specific mood at a very specific time of year.
In any case, you might as well let Deschanel's limpid blue eyes sway you into a blue Christmas, full of memories and times past.
