She & Him announce first-ever Christmas concerts

Pretty exciting news for fans of the super-cool duo She & Him...

I first saw She & Him at Coachella and they put on a super fun show. The duo have released two wonderful Christmas albums...

She & Him Announce First Ever Christmas Shows;

'A Very She & Him Christmas Party' hits Los Angeles, San Francisco &  Austin in December

She & Him features Zooey Deschanel, left, and
M. Ward. Photo credit: Dan Winters

Since their 2007 inception the talented partnership of Zooey Deschanel and M.Ward have released six acclaimed albums as She & Him. A Very She & Him Christmas, the duo's first collection of holiday music, was released in 2011 and quickly became a staple of the festive season. After two more lauded LPs, they released a second Yuletide collection, A Christmas Party, in 2016. These three A Very She & Him Christmas Party dates are the beloved duo's first live shows since 2013.

A Very She & Him Christmas Party

Dec. 6 Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern

Dec. 8 San Francisco, CA @ Masonic

Dec. 10 Austin, TX @ ACL Live

Tickets are on sale Friday, September 28 from SheAndHim.com. $1 from every ticket sold will go towards local food banks.  

WATCH She & Him's "Christmas Memories" video HERE

WATCH She & Him's "Winter Wonderland" video HERE

Praise for She & Him:

"Singer Zooey Deschanel and guitarist M. Ward seem perfectly in sync with whatever it is that makes the holiday season so uniquely joyful." - Los Angeles Times

"She & Him, Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, are relaxing and enchanting...."Christmas Party" is a classy mood setter for You & Me & Everyone." - Associated Press

"...gentle acoustic guitars and Deschanel's honeyed voice (give) a gorgeous, otherworldly air that can make any holiday shindig bearable." - San Francisco Chronicle

Keep up with She & Him:

http://www.sheandhim.com/ *  https://www.facebook.com/sheandhim *  https://twitter.com/sheandhim

Annual Holiday Music Releases Roundup

Thanks to a slew of wonderful new holiday releases it is definitely beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. 

Artist: Gene Autry
Title: A Melody Ranch Christmas Party (Varèse Sarabande)
You might like if you enjoy: Gene Autry & the Pinafores, Roy Rogers, Rosemary Clooney
Tell me more: Gene Autry's A Melody Ranch Christmas album is a wonderful time machine, featuring recordings from the 1940s and early 1950s originally recorded on Autry's long-running "Melody Ranch" radio show aired on the CBS Radio Network. Fans of classic country-western music and Christmas music will love this sentimental set filled with great recordings of "White Christmas," "Jingle Bells," "Joy to the World," "Winter Wonderland," "Frosty the Snow Man" and many more. The album's great booklet includes insightful liner notes and vintage black & white images of Melody Ranch cast members that add to the magic. Information: VareseSarabande.com.

Artist: Neil Diamond
Title: Acoustic Christmas (Capitol)
You might like if you enjoy: Neil Diamond
Tell me more: Neil Diamond brings his rich baritone and signature style to some of the season's most beloved standards and several originals on his Acoustic Christmas. The sparse arrangements bring depth and introspective enchantment to all the performances, from the weighty "O Holy Night" and "Do You Hear What I Hear" to the anthemic "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and delightful Celtic-flavored "Christmas in Killarney." The album features two new shining originals, notably the lovely piano-anchored "Christmas Prayers." Information: NeilDiamond.com.

Artist: Tony Hadley
Title: The Christmas Album (Omnivore Recordings)
You might like if you enjoy: Spandau Ballet, Kim Wilde
Tell me more: Fans of '80s new wave band Spandau Ballet know well the power of singer Tony Hadley. Now the British singer's soulful vocals come in the service of 18 stellar tracks on The Christmas Album. Hadley mines enduring standards ("White Christmas" "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"), traditional fair ("Ave Maria," "Silent Night") and several originals ("Every Second I'm Away," "Snowing All Over the World") on a terrific title centered around his top-tier vocals. A duet with Kim Wilde on "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" is among the treasures on the set. Information: OmnivoreRecordings.com.

Artist: Sarah McLachlan
Title: Wonderland (Verve)
You might like if you enjoy: Sarah Brightman, Enya, Sarah McLachlan
Tell me more: Sarah McLachlan brings her beautiful soprano to a number of beloved Yuletide favorites on the aptly-titled Wonderland. There is a nostalgic and yearning tone to this album with "Angels We Have Heard On High," "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "O Holy Night" among the adored songs covered with a mix of reflective melancholy and sumptuous beauty. A Barnes & Noble exclusive edition (reviewed here) includes two indispensable bonus tracks "Amazing Grace" and "Snow." Information: SarahMclachlan.com.

Artist: Kacey Musgraves
Title: A Very Kacey Christmas (Mercury Records)
You might like if you enjoy: Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert, Willie Nelson
Tell me more: Alt-country songstress Kacey Musgraves is one of country music's most exciting young artists, and her first full-length holiday music offering (A Very Kacey Christmas) is as superb as her other recent albums for Mercury Nashville (2013's Sam Trailer Different Park and 2015's Pageant Material). In addition to affecting covers of classics such as "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "Let It Snow" four Musgraves originals sparkle with the magic of the season; this writer's favorites include the beautiful ballad "Christmas Makes Me Cry" and the Hawaiian-styled "A Willie Nice Christmas," the latter a memorable duet with legend Willie Nelson. Information: KaceyMusgraves.com.

Artist: Pentatonix
Title: A Pentatonix Christmas (RCA)
You might like if you enjoy: Pentatonix
Tell me more: Texas-spawned a cappella group Pentatonix has released another holiday set sure to please fans of the vocal quintet. Formed in 2011, Pentatonix has already established a bona fide signature style built atop original arrangements boasting tight and dynamic vocal harmonies, innovative percussion achieved with their voices as well as riffing and beatboxing to boot. The group's latest album release (A Pentatonix Christmas) continues that welcome tradition with impressive versions of "O Come, All Ye Faithful," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "White Christmas" (performed with the Manhattan Transfer), "Coventry Carol" and more. Information: ptxofficial.com.

Artist: She & Him
Title: Christmas Party (Columbia)
You might like if you enjoy: Aimee Mann, She & Him
Tell me more: Since bursting on the scene with their first album Volume One in March 2008, She & Him (Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward) have been reviving '60s-styled sunshine pop across a number of winning releases. The duo released the wonderful A Very She & Him Christmas in fall 2011, and have just issued a new holiday collection titled Christmas Party that finds the duo offering up a dozen gems including a spirited "All I Want for Christmas Is You," a dreamy jazz-tinged "Let It Snow" and old-time country take on "Winter Wonderland" that finds Deschanel sharing lead vocals with guest Jenny Lewis. Information: sheandhim.com.

Robert Kinsler

She & Him share "Happy Holiday" + Album out Oct. 28, 2016

Here is some early holiday cheer courtesy of the wonderful duo She & Him…

SHE & HIM 

SHARE TRACK "HAPPY HOLIDAY" - LISTEN HERE

CHRISTMAS PARTY 

OUT OCTOBER 28TH ON COLUMBIA RECORDS

Today, She & Him share their beguiling cover of the much-loved Bing Crosby classic "Happy Holiday." Click here to listen and post! 

She & Him's eagerly awaited new album Christmas Party is out October 28th on Columbia Records. Christmas Party is the sixth album from the duo comprised of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, and is the follow up to their wildly popular A Very She And Him Christmas. Christmas Party features guest appearances by Jenny Lewis, The Chapin Sisters and Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley.

Christmas Party is replete with holiday favorites - including classics like Darlene Love and Phil Spector's "Marshmallow World," Bing Crosby's "Mele Kalikimaka" and Chuck Berry's "Run Run Rudolph." But, Ward and Deschanel also may introduce listeners to the more obscure tracks such as folk-singer Vashti Bunyon's "Coldest Night of the Year" and the lesser known Sinatra track "Christmas Memories." Pop favorites such as Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" and The Chipmunks "Christmas Don't Be Late" round out the celebration. Throughout the album is She & Him's signature organic stripped down take on production. 

Christmas Party will be available digitally, on CD and vinyl on October 28th. For more information visit www.sheandhim.com

Track Listing:

1. All I Want for Christmas Is You

2. Let It Snow

3. Must Be Santa

4. Happy Holiday

5. Mele Kalikimaka

6. Christmas Memories

7. Run Run Rudolph

8. Winter Wonderland

9. The Coldest Night of the Year

10. A Marshmallow World

11. The Man with the Bag

12. Christmas Don't Be Late

More About She & Him

Christmas Party

By Sarah Tapscott

This Christmas season, She & Him would like to invite you to a party. The start time is precisely the moment you crave holiday nostalgia and gingerbread-fueled merriment. The dress code happens to be whatever you're wearing, though flexibility is encouraged, as a desire to dance will be likely, if not unavoidable. And you're invited to bring as many loved ones along as you please. Well, except maybe that one guy - you know the one.

 

Christmas Party, She & Him's second Christmas record, is a unique gathering of friends and family, where a mixture of perennial classics, happy accidents, and friendly faces create an atmosphere where the magic of Christmas not only blossoms but is rediscovered.  

 

It was the positive experience they had recording their first Christmas record, A Very She & Him Christmas, in 2011 that brought M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel back for another round of holiday cheer. Much like their first Christmas record, She & Him bring an organic and minimalistic approach to their holiday covers. Highly produced classics get stripped down to their most fundamental elements, a style perfectly evinced on their rendition of "Marshmallow World", originally covered by Darlene Love on the Phil Spector Christmas album. In this vein, you won't find any accompanying orchestra or full-piece brass bands on Christmas Party. Instead, She & Him rely on friends and family to lend a simple and authentic holiday vibe to this album, one where the guest list speaks for itself. 

 

For starters, you'll find Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley playing drums on all the tracks. Close friends and tour buddies, The Chapin Sisters, add their harmonies to back up and lead, as does indie rock darling Jenny Lewis. "She's a great singer and I'm a big fan," says Zooey. Also joining the fun are a number of Ward's friends from Portland and even Zooey's husband Jacob and their daughter Elsie. 

 

In the years between the two holiday records, She & Him released Vol. 3, an album of original songs, and kept their affection for covers alive with Classics, a compilation of covers of their favorite standards. Throughout these intervening years and albums, Zooey and Ward gradually culled a new collection of holiday songs to re-interpret, tucking them away like a stack of presents growing under a tree. 

 

It's this diverse choice of tracks that keeps Christmas Party from being a one room, one note get-together. Instead, the colorful song list takes you on a Santa-like journey, traversing the globe and dropping you down into a variety of holiday settings with friends and loved ones. The expedition kicks off with a good old-fashioned dance party where Mariah Carey's newly minted classic "All I Want For Christmas" is re-imagined and infused with a style reminiscent of the Phil Spector Christmas record. "I've always loved this song, and I was like, 'I'd love to hear it without the digital keyboards. I'd love to hear it recorded in a little more of an old school way,'" says Zooey.  

 

Shortly after, you're handed a glass of eggnog and welcomed into a group of friends in the jovial sing-a-long "Must Be Santa," where Jenny Lewis joins Zooey and Ward on lead as Ward's friends from Portland make up the "gang vocals". Voices are raised, along with glasses, in this high-energy call-and-repeat that even includes a surprise political reference sneakily hidden into the chorus, awaiting discovery, like a bright ornament hidden deep within a pine tree.  

 

Your travels continue, taking you to the warm sandy beaches of Hawaii, as The Chapin Sisters breezily harmonize with Zooey on the Polynesian favorite "Mele Kalikimaka." Next it's off to a party in the sky as you jump back on the sleigh, put on your Ray-Bans, and let Steve Shelley's drums and M. Ward's gruffy vocals kick up the cool with Chuck Berry's mad-dash anthem "Run Run Rudolph." 

 

Whether it's an unexpected guest under the mistletoe or a spit take at a drunken uncle's crazy yarn, every good holiday party has its surprises, and there's nothing She & Him love more than a happy accident. On Zooey and Jenny Lewis's Everly Brothers-influenced rendition of "Winter Wonderland," the track used is not only their very first take singing the song, but also includes a spur of the moment staccato giggle from Zooey. "It was totally spontaneous and we like that stuff," says Zooey. Another fortuitous surprise occurred during the recording of Irving Berlin's iconic "Happy Holiday." "My husband, Jacob, was playing jingle bells with Elsie in his arms when she started making a baby noise which happened to be in tune with the song." Her daughter's soft echoes, along with the organ, blend to create a familiar feeling of being at an ice rink with your family.

 

Christmas Party not only captures an organic world of sometimes unplanned whimsy, but also introduces us to new, esoteric songs and settings. "Coldest Night Of The Year" is a holiday song by folk singer Vashti Bunyan that Zooey discovered on a box set and instantly fell in love with. "Christmas Memories" is another obscure track by Sinatra that is one of Matt and Zooey's favorites."When I sing it, I think of Christmas at my grandparents' house with all my cousins and my family... I hope this can be a record that makes people feel warm and happy and think of family."

 

With every Christmas party, there comes a time, whether staring at the flames of the fire, rapt by their flickering, or gazing longingly at the snow as it shakes loose of the night sky, that you have a moment with yourself to reflect on the true meaning of the holidays. On Christmas Party this moment appropriately comes on the final track. "Christmas Don't Be Late", a song typically associated with The Chipmunks, is given new life as a quiet lullaby as Zooey plays it solo on ukulele. Ward observes, "She's bringing the song more soul than it has been brought in the past."

 

As Christmas Party comes to a close, the listener can take solace in knowing the door on this gathering is never fully shut. The sing-alongs, the happy accidents, the quiet moments with loved ones - they're all waiting for you whenever you wish to immerse yourself in the splendor of the season. As Ward himself says, "Music is one of the purest ways into Christmas." 

Brian Wilson's 11th solo studio album, titled "No Pier Pressure," to be released April 7 by Capitol Records

Exciting breaking news of interest to fans of Brian Wilson, as well as lovers of the great duo She & Him, country singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves and other modern-day sonic heroes. I love the album title too!

BRIAN WILSON'S 11TH SOLO STUDIO ALBUM, TITLED 'NO PIER PRESSURE,' TO BE RELEASED APRIL 7 BY CAPITOL RECORDS New Album Features Collaborations with Beach Boys Bandmates, Kacey Musgraves, fun.'s Nate Ruess, She & Him's Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, Peter Hollens, and Capital Cities' Sebu Simonian

Hollywood, California - January 29, 2015- He is one of popular music's most deeply revered figures, a legendary writer, producer, arranger and performer of some of the most cherished music in pop music history. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to call Brian Wilson one of the most gifted and influential composers of the past 50 years. For the release of his 11th solo studio album, titled No Pier Pressure, Wilson has returned to Capitol Records, his original label home with The Beach Boys.  The album will be released April 7 in standard 13-track and deluxe 16-track editions, each available on CD and digitally, as well as a 16-track 2LP edition on 180-gram vinyl. For the No Pier Pressure sessions, Brian Wilson reunited with longtime collaborator Joe Thomas, with whom he co-produced The Beach Boys' No. 3 Billboard album That's Why God Made The Radio for the iconic band's 50th anniversary reunion in 2012.  In addition, Wilson was  joined at Hollywood's Ocean Way Studios by talented musicians he personally invited to record with him, including his former Beach Boys bandmates Al Jardine, David Marks and Blondie Chaplin, as well as Kacey Musgraves, fun.'s Nate Ruess, She & Him's Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, Peter Hollens, Capital Cities' Sebu Simonian, and trumpet master Mark Isham.  Wilson has also brought in session all-stars Don Was, drummer Jim Keltner, Dean Parks, and Kenny Aronoff.  Members of Wilson's longtime touring band, including Scott Bennett, Paul Mertens, Darian Sahanaja, and Probyn Gregory also participated in the sessions, along with Matt Jardine, son of Al Jardine, and former bandmate Jeffrey Foskett.  Wilson and Thomas began collaborating on the new songs during The Beach Boys' whirlwind 50th anniversary activities throughout 2012, a banner year for the band which also included a GRAMMY® Award win for Brian for The Beach Boys' long-awaited SMiLE Sessions release.  He told family, friends, and journalists around the world that he looked forward to returning to the studio when he got back home to California.   Always most inspired when creativity is given time and space to freely flow, Wilson initially envisioned the sessions for his new album with The Beach Boys in mind, but that was not to be.  Wanting to find the right voices to complete his vision, Wilson saw an opportunity to finally become hip with his kids and recruited some amazing young vocalists who have been inspired by his music to do the job.  Throughout his iconic career, Wilson has brought ingenious vision to his own compositions, as well as to those for which he has collaborated, weaving a lush, vibrant tapestry of intricately nuanced vocal harmonies and instrumental arrangements for himself, his bandmates and others.  For more than 50 years, fans have marveled at the sheer beauty of the music that springs forth from Wilson's imagination into glorious song. Camped out at Ocean Way, Wilson took a fluid, woodshedding approach to the recording process, deftly tailoring the vocal and instrumental parts and arrangements to each participant.  Wilson worked to hone the arrangements, often assembling pieces from various takes, a signature style of recording he has enjoyed since his earliest sessions with The Beach Boys.  In fact, several of the songs were written during the recording process. Brian Wilson began his career as a teenaged founding member of The Beach Boys, who signed with Capitol Records in July 1962 and released their first album, Surfin' Safari, that same year. The band's initial surf-rock focus was soon broadened to include other themes, and 1966's Pet Sounds is universally hailed as one of the greatest albums of all time.  Wilson's innovative vocal and instrumental arrangements for major hits including "I Get Around," "California Girls," "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "God Only Knows," and the No. 1 smash "Good Vibrations" made The Beach Boys America's preeminent band of the 1960s. Brian Wilson has also achieved great solo success with 10of his own albums released to date, including his acclaimed 2004 completion of an album he first began recording in the '60s, Brian Wilson Presents... SMiLE, which reached Billboard's Top 20 and earned him his first GRAMMY® Award for a recording.  Wilson won his second GRAMMY Award® for producing The Beach Boys' acclaimed 2011 release, The SMiLE Sessions.  Wilson has also performed major, sold-out SMiLE and Pet Sounds tours in recent years with his own band.  Wilson is a Kennedy Center Honors recipient, a Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, and a UK Music Hall of Fame inductee.  As a member of The Beach Boys, Wilson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and honored with The Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement GRAMMY® Award in 2001. www.brianwilson.com BRIAN WILSON:  No Pier Pressure [CD, digital] 1. This Beautiful Day 2. Runaway Dancer [featuring Sebu Simonian] 3. What Ever Happened [featuring Al Jardine and David Marks] 4. On The Island [featuring She & Him] 5. Our Special Love [featuring Peter Hollens] 6. The Right Time [featuring Al Jardine and David Marks] 7. Guess You Had To Be There [featuring Kacey Musgraves] 8. Tell Me Why [featuring Al Jardine] 9. Sail Away [featuring Blondie Chaplin and Al Jardine] 10. One Kind Of Love 11. Saturday Night [featuring Nate Ruess] 12. The Last Song13. Half Moon Bay BRIAN WILSON:  No Pier Pressure (Deluxe Edition) [CD, digital] (added tracks in bold) 1. This Beautiful Day 2. Runaway Dancer [featuring Sebu Simonian] 3. What Ever Happened [featuring Al Jardine and David Marks] 4. On The Island [featuring She & Him] 5. Our Special Love [featuring Peter Hollens] 6. The Right Time [featuring Al Jardine and David Marks] 7. Guess You Had To Be There [featuring Kacey Musgraves] 8. Don't Worry 9. Somewhere Quiet 10. I'm Feeling Sad 11. Tell Me Why [featuring Al Jardine] 12. Sail Away [featuring Blondie Chaplin and Al Jardine] 13. One Kind Of Love 14. Saturday Night [featuring Nate Ruess] 15. The Last Song 16. Half Moon Bay BRIAN WILSON:  No Pier Pressure [2LP 180g vinyl] Side A 1. This Beautiful Day 2. Runaway Dancer [featuring Sebu Simonian] 3. What Ever Happened [featuring Al Jardine and David Marks] 4. On The Island [featuring She & Him] Side B 1. Our Special Love [featuring Peter Hollens] 2. The Right Time [featuring Al Jardine and David Marks] 3. Guess You Had To Be There [featuring Kacey Musgraves] 4. Tell Me Why [featuring Al Jardine] Side C 1. Sail Away [featuring Blondie Chaplin and Al Jardine] 2. One Kind Of Love 3. Saturday Night [featuring Nate Ruess] 4. The Last Song Side D 1. Half Moon Bay 2. Don't Worry 3. I'm Feeling Sad 4. Somewhere Quiet

Sights and Sounds: She & Him; 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug' soundtrack update

Before everybody heads off for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, here are a couple of music-minded updates that have landed in my inbox this week...

She & Him to release 'The Capitol Studios Session' on December 2nd

On December 2, She & Him will release The Capitol Studios Session, a special digital-only release of new versions of four songs from their latest album, Volume 3.

The She & Him band convened in Los Angeles in June of 2013 to capture a more intimate version of their vibrant new songs. The novelty of having the whole band together in a legendary recording studio inspired the looser arrangements characteristic of the band’s live performances.

Recorded at Capitol Studios, mixed by Larry Crane, and mastered at Gateway Mastering,The Capitol Studios Session features Zooey Deschanel, M. Ward, Abigail Chapin, Lily Chapin, Mike Coykendall, Tom Hagerman, Scott McPherson, and Chris Scruggs.

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG 
ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK 2 CD SET DUE DECEMBER 10^THFROM WATERTOWER MUSIC

Featuring Original Music by Academy Award^® Winner Howard Shore

With An Original Song I See Fire Performed by 
GRAMMY Nominated Singer-Songwriter Ed Sheeran

2 CD Special Edition Soundtrack Also Available

WaterTower Music has released details of the soundtrack to “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), the second in a trilogy of films by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. The soundtrack will be released on December 10, 2013, three days before the December 13 release of the film, and will be available both digitally and as a 2 CD set. A Special Edition soundtrack, featuring twelve extended tracks, a bonus track, expanded liner notes and interactive sheet music will also be available. Fans will be able to preorder the album at both iTunes and Amazon on November 5.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Original Motion Picture Soundtrack features the music of Howard Shore, one of film music’s most respected, honored, and active composers and conductors. "I’m looking forward to introducing you to Smaug," exclaimed Shore, who previously worked with director Peter Jackson on The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Jackson added, "Howard Shore's music soars and enriches way beyond its connection to our images, a unique sound like no other.  He truly has created an epic musical world of his own. "

Shore’s music for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy has been performed in numerous concerts internationally. In 2003 he conducted the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in the world premiere of The Lord of the Rings Symphony in Wellington, New Zealand. Since then, the work has been performed nearly 300 times by the world’s most prestigious orchestras, and has been the subject of a book, The Music of The Lord of the Rings Films: A Comprehensive Account of Howard Shore's Scores.

Howard Shore’s music for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy stands as his most towering achievement to date, garnering three Academy Awards® for his music for those films, two for Best Original Score, and one for Best Original Song.  Shore has also won numerous other honors for his film work, including four Grammys and three Golden Globe Awards, the Career Achievement for Music Composition Award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, New York Chapter’s Recording Academy Honors, ASCAP’s Henry Mancini Award, the Frederick Loewe Award and the Max Steiner Award from the city of Vienna. He holds honorary doctorates from Berklee College of Music and York University, and is an Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la Franceand the recipient of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award in Canada.

Included on the soundtrack is I See Fire, a new song created for the film by Ed Sheeran, the 22-year old British singer/songwriter and multi-platinum global phenomenon who was nominated in the prestigious “Song of the Year” category at this year’s 55^th Annual Grammy Awards. Sheeran is also a two-time BRIT Award winner and recipient of the highly esteemed Ivor Novello award for best song musically and lyrically in the UK." “It was such an honor working with Peter Jackson on this song," Sheeran says.  "Not only is he one of my favorite directors of my favorite films, The Hobbit was the first book I ever read as a child, so it means a lot that I get to produce music for the motion picture.”

Elaborating on the collaboration with Jackson, as well as filmmakers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, Sheeran stated, “I was allowed complete freedom to create what I thought was fitting for the film, which is very rare, and Peter, Fran and Philippa were always on hand to give notes and pointers. The entire team down in New Zealand was out of this world. The film is amazing, I'm still geeking out that I've done a song for a Peter Jackson film set in Middle-earth!”

"Ed Sheeran is a true Tolkien fan, and also happens to be a brilliant singer-songwriter,” offered Peter Jackson. I See Fire is Ed's emotional response to the film. It's perfect."

“It is an honor to once again work with the tremendous Howard Shore, who has created the musical voice of Peter Jackson’s iconic The Hobbit and The Lord of The Ringsfilms from the beginning,” stated WaterTower Music head Jason Linn.  “And we are thrilled that the stars aligned for this collaboration with Ed Sheeran and his truly inspired original song for our soundtrack. WaterTower anticipates another exciting and successful soundtrack journey with these two exceptional musicians.”

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be released on December 10, 2013.  The track list is as follows:

DISC 1          
1.     The Quest for Erebor
2.     Wilderland
3.     A Necromancer (Bonus Track) *
4.     The House of Beorn **
5.     Mirkwood **
6.     Flies and Spiders **
7.     The Woodland Realm **
8.     Feast of Starlight
9.     Barrels Out of Bond
10.  The Forest River **
11.  Bard, a Man of Lake-town **
12.  The High Fells **
13.  The Nature of Evil
14.  Protector of the Common Folk

DISC 2
1.     Thrice Welcome
2.     Girion, Lord of Dale **
3.     Durin's Folk **
4.     In the Shadow of the Mountain
5.     A Spell of Concealment **
6.     On the Doorstep
7.     The Courage of Hobbits
8.     Inside Information
9.     Kingsfoil
10.  A Liar and a Thief
11.  The Hunters **
12.  Smaug  **
13.  My Armor Is Iron
14.  I See Fire performed by Ed Sheeran
15.  Beyond the Forest

* Bonus track available on Special Edition Soundtrack only
** Extended Versions of these songs Available on Special Edition Soundtrack only
 
From Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” the second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. 
 
The three films tell a continuous story set in Middle-earth 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar^®-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” 
 
The screenplay for “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien.  Jackson also produced the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh.  The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Philippa Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers.
 
Under Jackson’s direction, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” was shot in 3D 48 frames-per-second and will be released in High Frame Rate 3D (HFR 3D) in select theaters, other 2D and 3D formats, and IMAX^®.  Production took place at Jackson’s own facilities in Miramar, Wellington, and on location around New Zealand. Post production took place at Park Road Post Production in Wellington.
 
New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Present a WingNut Films Production, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.”  The film is a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), with New Line managing production. Warner Bros. Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television distribution being handled by MGM.  www.thehobbit.net
 
WaterTower Music, the in house music label for Warner Bros.,  has been releasing recorded music since 2001. Distributed through InGrooves Fontana, WTM has released over 150 titles, including the film soundtracks to “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” “Gravity,” “Man of Steel,”  “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Game of Thrones,” and “The Great Gatsby Jazz Recordings” among others.