Baby, it’s ‘fun and casual and warm’ inside at She & Him’s holiday show
M. Ward, half of the indie pop duo She & Him, compares choosing songs for an album with shopping.
“It’s a lot like trying on clothes in a department store,” he said in a telephone interview with his musical partner, actress Zooey Deschanel. “You try on a million things, and then some things just seem to fit in the right way.”
Ward and Deschanel, who have been performing together since 2006, seem to have chosen wisely when they were working on “A Very She & Him Christmas,” their first holiday album. It swiftly became a favorite for fans of poppy holiday tunes. A special edition was released last month in honor of its 10th anniversary.
They’re playing songs from that album and ones from their 2016 release, “Christmas Party,” on a quick eight-date tour that includes their first stop in San Antonio. They’ll be at the Aztec Theatre on Sunday.
“We get a lot of pleasure out of playing these songs,” Ward said. “It’s become an annual tradition.”
“Like ‘The Nutcracker,’ kind of, but not at all,” Deschanel added,
Ward chalks up the continuing appeal of “A Very She & Him Christmas” to Deschanel’s voice and the song selections. The album features several established favorites, including “Blue Christmas,” “Silver Bells” and “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” which Deschanel also sings in the movie “Elf.” And it shed some light on a few lesser-known gems.
“I feel like a song like ‘Christmas Waltz’ was not in the Christmas canon over the last couple of decades,” Ward said. “There’s been a reaction to that song and a lot of the other ones from both our Christmas records, it seems like they’re talked about more.”
Deschanel thinks the album continues to resonate with listeners because of Ward’s production chops as well as its intimate feel. That reflects the way it was
made. They recorded it in just six days, and until they brought in a drummer on the last day to overdub a few tracks, it was just the
two of them in the studio.
“We wanted it to feel like people were in our living room at an intimate Christmas party with a
fire going, and we’re playing and everybody’s having a good time,” Deschanel said. “We like the feeling of ‘Beach Boys Party!’ —
that record, where they’re kind of just playing and it’s fun and casual and warm.”
They strive for that feel in their live shows, too, Ward said.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a big theater or a small place, if we can bring the feeling across we’re among friends,” he said. “Especially during the holidays, I feel like music has this power to bring people together.”
When they decided to put out a special edition of that first Christmas album, they added three tracks: “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” and their distinctive covers of Madonna’s “Holiday” and Wham’s “Last Christmas.”
“Last Christmas” had been slated for “Christmas Party,” but it didn’t make the cut.
“It just didn’t quite gel as well as the other songs on that record,” Deschanel said. “We tried it again this year and it worked.”
Fans who come to the Aztec show can expect to hear some things the duo hasn’t recorded yet. They’re keeping that part of the set list to themselves until Sunday.
“It’ll be a surprise,” Deschanel said. “It’s more fun.”