The bird and the bee (lower case, if you please) are an LA duo who, when not exercising their wildlife aliases, go by the respective names of Inara George and Greg Kurstin. The pair met when Kurstin, a producer who has worked with the likes of Beck and Red Hot Chili Peppers, worked on George's solo debut album (she has previously been a member of LA-based bands Merrick and Lode, and has also worked with Idlewild, amongst others). Discovering that they shared a mutual love for jazz - this album was even released on the famed Blue Note label - they decided to pool their resources and collaborate on a project that would pay homage to their musical heroes. The bird and the bee isn't an outright jazz-fest, though; certainly, there are strong elements of the genre on display, but George and Kurstin also incorporate bossa nova, chillout, electronica and pop into their sound. Opening track Again and Again starts as it means to go on; it's a catchy, breezy electro-pop number that's similar in tone to Zero 7's first album. Indeed, George's breathy, crystalline vocals are similar to that group's sometime collaborator Sia Furler, as well as drawing comparisons with ethereal balladeers Natalie Merchant and Sinead O'Connor. George's gorgeous vocal layers and harmonies compliment the chic backing tracks superbly, too; Fucking Boyfriend is an amusing laid-back electro-ditty to dance to; My Fair Lady could be a Bacharach-penned '60s pop song, while the epic I'm A Broken Heart's euphoric, shimmering chorus tempers its poignant verse. The songs here are well-crafted and musically expansive, but if there's one flaw, it's the sparse, more experimental final three tracks, which cause the album to end on an indecisive fluster rather than a positive giggle. Overall though, the buzz surrounding this duo is justified, and this is an album most certainly worth crowing about.
