RIYL: Obi Best, Belle & Sebastian, Feist, Frou Frou, Lilly Allen

The Bird and the Bee have to be some of the most prolific musicians I’ve ever encountered. For a super group with two successful and independent careers (Greg Kurstin is a widely renowned multi-instrumentalist in the California area while Inara George has an Imogen Heap-size, seriously loyal following including the likes of big name backers like Sia), it’s downright astounding they have two full-length albums and two four-track EPs since their first release in January 2007. Four albums in a two year period and I have yet to be disappointed with the quality of anything The Bird and the Bee has written, covered, or revised.

There’s something terribly addictive about George’s breathy, mature voice that is both haunting and refreshing. She’s mastered the slow song, carrying you through “Ray Gun” with heartbreaking tones just as she did with “I’m A Broken Heart” way back in their first album. Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future will give you just the same sort of flavours the duo are famous for, but with an added level of maturity. Their sound has been coined, reaching its full potential in this latest release, and even managing that same tongue-in-cheek touch and throwback fetish with songs like “Diamond Dave” (which, according to Eric Ambler, “might be the world’s sweetest ode to the famously lecherous Van Halen frontman”) and the old-timey “You’re a Cad.”

Of course there’s a little less anger in Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future (instead of “would you be my fucking boyfriend” you get “would you please clap your hands”), but then again, The Bird and the Bee work best as a twosome in spats and flowery dresses covering “The Way to San Jose,” not a sweaty, mosh-worthy hair band. The song structures are the same — upbeat and pleasant backgrounds with lilting vocals that can really only be described as fun and just plain nice — but Kurstin manages to beef up the backgrounds from catchy synth melodies to full blown orchestrations that take tracks like “Love Letter to Japan” to entirely new territory. So, in short, if you aren’t already behind The Bird and the Bee, let Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future be the album that gets you there.

Recommended Tracks:

“Diamond Dave,” “Ray Gun,” “Love Letter to Japan,” and “Witch”