The closing track of the album is a cover version of Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)" which was part of the soundtrack of the movie The Breakfast Club that starred Ringwald.

Ringwald recorded Except Sometimes with Peter Smith (who also produced), on piano, Clayton Cameron on drums, Allen Mezquida on alto saxophone, and Trevor Ware on bass.

"There was no Madeline Peyroux, Diana Krall, Norah Jones… I didn't feel like anybody was going to listen to the kind of music that I wanted to sing.

Speaking of the album's influences, Ringwald said, "I had quite the musical repertoire; it was pretty much traditional jazz but there was some Bessie Smith and Helen Kane, the original Betty Boop."

Ringwald lends her cool, sultry vocals and strong instinctive phrasing to a colorful mix of standards, sweetly balancing the playful swing and gentle intimacy with the help of her ensemble of top musicians, led by pianist Peter Smith.

Jazz radio has rightly jumped first on her graceful twist on 'Don't You (Forget About Me)', which infectiously blends her past and present and resonates emotionally beyond its inclusion as a nostalgic novelty."

In a more mixed review, Ted Scheinman of Slant Magazine said, "On the spectrum of vanity projects, Except Sometimes far outstrips Gwyneth Paltrow's country-western excursions without ever quite achieving the distinction and charm of Zooey Deschanel singing trad jazz over ukuleles.

Deschanel punches above her weight, vocally speaking, but Jonathan Lethem once wrote that the secret to good popular singing lies in the proper negotiation between your limitations and your aspirations.