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ONE WAY Recommends [Issue
#24] The Bird And The Bee By
Lynne Bronstein
The Bird And The Bee
(CD
Blue Note)
This isn’t smooth
jazz, it’s soft and velvety with carefully concealed sharp edges. It’s not clear
who’s The Bird and who’s The Bee but this is the work of singer/songwriter Inara
George and musician Greg Kurstin. It’s a mysterious, moody, quietly active song
cycle with jazz and bossa nova rhythms; the instrumentation is mostly electronic
and never overwhelms the multi-tracked vocals of George, which are instruments
themselves. The best example of this is on the title song, in which the overdubbed
chorus is almost a second character in the song, like the Greek Choruses of old.
Offsetting the enjoyable harmonies are the lyrics, which sometimes veer toward
punk assertion as on “F-cking Boyfriend” (what a wish-fulfillment of a song for
women!) and the funny “I Hate Camera.” On “My Fair Lady,” George rewrites the
tale of Liza Doolittle, turning that character’s yearning for a room of her own
into an modern urban anthem. In some ways this self-titled release has the feel
of an updated, female-centric Pet Sounds a high compliment to be sure, but possibly
a well-deserved comparison.
This isn’t smooth
jazz, it’s soft and velvety with carefully concealed sharp edges. It’s not clear
who’s The Bird and who’s The Bee but this is the work of singer/songwriter Inara
George and musician Greg Kurstin. It’s a mysterious, moody, quietly active song
cycle with jazz and bossa nova rhythms; the instrumentation is mostly electronic
and never overwhelms the multi-tracked vocals of George, which are instruments
themselves. The best example of this is on the title song, in which the overdubbed
chorus is almost a second character in the song, like the Greek Choruses of old.
Offsetting the enjoyable harmonies are the lyrics, which sometimes veer toward
punk assertion as on “F-cking Boyfriend” (what a wish-fulfillment of a song for
women!) and the funny “I Hate Camera.” On “My Fair Lady,” George rewrites the
tale of Liza Doolittle, turning that character’s yearning for a room of her own
into an modern urban anthem. In some ways this self-titled release has the feel
of an updated, female-centric Pet Sounds a high compliment to be sure, but possibly
a well-deserved comparison. 
