Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future

The Bird And The Bee got famous due to soundtracks

The Los-Angeles duo The Bird And The Bee consists of a talented jazz singer Inara George and producer and musician Greg Kurstin who has worked with such world level celebrities as Kylie Minogue, Lily Allen, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Their common creative work started when Kurstin worked on George’s debut album after which the two decided to make their own electro-jazz pop project which is The Bird And The Bee. The duo released its eponymous debut album in 2007 and it was preceded by a very interesting EP called Again and Again and Again and Again. Yet the real success came to the tandem when its songs got included into movies and series soundtracks such as for instance Sex and the City: The Movie and Grey’s Anatomy. Today the duo returns with its sophomore effort Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future that proves to be a much softer and more refined than the debut, still its more than a worthy continuation.

Romantic and very gentle songs on Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future

The record Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future mostly consists of calm, romantic and very gentle songs of such a good quality that even if one wants to it is impossible to criticize anything here. The album opens with a short introduction Fanfare and then immediately offers one of its highlights My Love – memorable, light and ethereal it creates a relaxed and very positive atmosphere. A song devoted to the former Van Halen vocalist David Lee Roth, Diamond Dave proves to be a touching confession of a fan to its idol whereas on almost title track Ray Gun Inara’s vocals surprise with its fragile sounding and a beautiful harmony with the magic instrumental background. An electronic composition Love Letter To Japan conquers with a contagious beat and is probably the most danceable tune on the album whereas the track Baby is another album’s highlight painting the pictures from the singer and her friend’s common past. One more interesting and memorable composition is Polite Dance Song with a complicated accompaniment that at the end turns into something absolutely breathtaking and monumental, and with witty lyrics. Many girls are sure to like the song Witch as they can devote it to their boyfriends who are sure to appreciate such an unusual present that gives you the shivers and the closer is Lifespan Of A Fly, unhurried, peaceful and a beat sad but endlessly gentle at the same time.

Each of the 14 tracks is a piece of art

Listening to The Bird And The Bee’s complicated and quite modern music it is rather hard to believe that the duo started with retro compositions, even though today there can be found some traces of this producer and singer’s shared interest. Their ideas of how to express the most sacred feelings in music are united in their creations which is why they are so soulful and sincere. Therefore one can easily state without fear of being called an idealist: each of the 14 tracks of Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future is a piece of art. These songs are so faultless that some may even find them too sugary. The point is that being both a musician and a producer Greg Kurstin clearly realizes how an arrangement should be made in a right way, what instruments and audio effects combine better with Inara’s clear but rather specific voice and how a feeling should be rendered in music without shadowing the emotions of the vocals. So if you are longing to listen to simple, light and stylish pop music then the record Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future is just what you need. What makes it even more interesting are the lyrics so full of clichéd rhymes and trite metaphors that it makes one smile ironically, the effect The Bird And The Bee’s music is obviously calculated for.