Get ready for the jazzy sounds of summer. She & Him bring their limited-run Melt Away Tour–A Tribute to Brian Wilson to Red Butte Garden on June 14, 2022. She & Him is an indie-pop duo featuring TV’s New Girl Zooey Deschanel (She) and singer-songwriter M. Ward (Him).
She & Him’s 2022 summer tour is in support of their upcoming album Melt Away: A Tribute to Brian Wilson, set for release on July 22. Red Butte Gardens’ audience will be among the first to hear the duo’s reimagined interpretation of the music of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys. She & Him didn’t take the easy road by covering “best of” hits. Instead, they scoured Brian Wilson’s massive 60-plus year catalog and carefully chose 14 songs to stamp with their own cool jazz indie-pop style that She & Him fans know and love.
“Darlin’” is the first single off the new record and they filmed a whimsical, campy video to go along with it. “Darlin’” is a fairly deep cut. The song did break the top 20 for the Beach Boys in 1967 but isn’t exactly a signature Beach Boys hit. They cover “Wouldn’t it be Nice” from Pet Sounds (1966), but the rest of the 14 tracks are lesser known Beach Boys or Brian Wilson solo offerings. Wilson even puts his stamp of approval on the album by joining the duo on “Do it Again.”
Deschanel’s voice has a range and quality that fits well in a jazz cabaret or a smokey blues club (it will also sound great in the natural acoustics of Red Butte Garden.) The Beach Boys’ sound and Wilson’s writing style have always been synonymous with summer, sun and sand, but with an unmistakable jazz feel often lost in the good-vibration tempo and falsetto male vocals. She & Him strips that away to expose the jazz roots. I’m looking forward to hearing how She & Him deconstruct the sound and make it something fresh and new.
On June 14, Red Butte Garden will host an early solstice party with She & Him crooning out some sizzlin’ summer Beach Boys sounds with their own breezy indie pop style. They’re sure to add some of their great original music to the evening’s setlist.
Who: She & Him What: Indie-pop duo covering classics and original compositions Where: Red Butte Garden Amphitheater When: June 14, 2022
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