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They sing as well as they act

Glenn Gamboa | glenn.gamboa@newsday.com

May 18, 2008

For too long, three words have struck fear into the hearts of music fans: actor-turned-singer.

From Bruce Willis and David Hasselhoff on down through Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, it's become pretty clear that some talents just don't translate. But things are starting to change.

First, there was Zooey Deschanel, the actress from "Almost Famous" and "Failure to Launch" and numerous indie films, whose debut album as half of She & Him was an unexpected delight. (The fact that the "Him" half is the great indie-folk singer-songwriter M. Ward helps a great deal. )

Deschanel wrote nearly all the songs for "She & Him: Volume One" (Merge) and she combines lovely lilting '50s-style country with '60s girl-group pop and '60s British soul with grand results, especially on the poignant "Take It Back" and the bouncy "I Was Made For You. " Her fragile take on Smokey Robinson's "You Really Got a Hold on Me" is enhanced by the spare arrangement and Ward's backing vocals.

On Tuesday, Scarlett

Johansson releases her debut "Anywhere I Lay My Head" (Atco), where she takes on Tom Waits classics with the help of producer Dave Sitek from TV on the Radio. Her interpretations of "Falling Down" and "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" show off her pretty, but powerful voice - somewhere between Sinead O'Connor and Sheryl Crow - that holds its own against lush backdrops built by Sitek, Yeah Yeah Yeah's Nick Zinner and Celebration's Sean Antanaitis.

These successes almost make you forget how bad actress-singers can be. Of course, one listen to Lohan's awful new single "Bossy" will change that.