Album: She & Him, Volume One (Domino)

Zooey Deschanel is one of those Hollywood actresses who drifts in and out of one's consciousness – she plays Trillian in 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' – but her musical debut is a record you won't forget in a hurry.

Deschanel and M Ward come on like a latterday Karen & Richard, spinning beautifully melancholic melodies within vintage American forms. There's a pleasing flatness to Deschanel's voice: she sings like a human, not like a singer. Covering "You Really Got a Hold On Me" is an audacity too far (only a maniac would think they can improve on Smokey) but She & Him's own material is adorable enough on its own.