She & Him‘s “Volume Two” was only released four months ago, but for being a relatively new album, it’s one that feels steeped in nostalgia. The light orchestrations bring a genial upbeat touch to even the most heartbreaking of lyrics, and over the course of two albums California natives M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel have gradually brought a sunny, decidedly West Coast-feel to delicately symphonic retro-pop tunes.

“Volume Two” comes with its own love letter to California in “Home,” a piano stroll accentuated with handclaps, swooning background vocals, crisp guitar notes and keyboard lushness. It arrives near the end of an album that’s full of sweetly nuanced arrangements built around Deschanel’s conversationally cheery vocals. A take on NRBQ‘s forgotten “Ridin’ in My Car” is built for a windows-down cruise, and “In the Sun” is a three-minute call-and-response keyboard frolic that wouldn’t sound of out place on Disneyland’s Main Street.

“My earliest music memories were driving around and being in the back seat of my parents’ car and listening to music,” Deschanel said. “I feel like I associate music with California and the sun and a particular sort of feeling. It’s something that’s important to me to express when I write music. When we record, California is definitely on our minds.”

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