She & Him | Webster Hall

Role she was born to play

She is Zooey Deschanel, impossibly doe-eyed indie-film ingénue; he (or "him" in the duo's grammatically challenged parlance) is M. Ward, low-key indie troubadour. But Deschanel is more than just a pretty media-grabber: Interestingly, she wrote most of the music on their debut, "Volume One," based on a trove of demos she'd been sitting on. Buoyed by Deschanel's sweet, clear voice and backed by Ward's impeccable arrangements, the songs have a classic retro appeal spiffed up with a modern sheen.