the bird and the bee

Vocalist Inara George and multi-instrumentalist Greg Kurstin operated under the name the Bird and the Bee, delivering a self-aware refresh of swinging easy listening. Their sound drew equally from sharp new wave pop and space age bachelor pad music, allowing them to draw on earlier eras while crafting sophisticated sounds for contemporary listeners. The pair introduced their sleek adult alternative style through two original albums issued by Blue Note during the late 2000s, most notably propelled by the 2006 club success “Fucking Boyfriend,” yet their wider breakthrough arrived with the 2010 tribute set Interpreting the Masters, Vol. 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates. Once that project appeared, Kurstin’s already thriving production schedule intensified, limiting further joint work to sporadic sessions throughout the 2010s; on those occasions the duo maintained the same wry, urbane approach first heard in 2007.

George and Kurstin met in 2004 during the recording of her debut album All Rise. Producer Mike Andrews invited Kurstin to contribute piano, and the two musicians connected immediately. Sharing an affinity for jazz, they soon began composing and tracking songs at Kurstin’s Echo Park studio, resulting in the debut EP Again and Again and Again and Again. Blue Note first issued the record through its Metro Blue imprint in 2006 before shifting the release to the main label; the set centered on the single “Fucking Boyfriend,” which topped Billboard’s Dance chart and later surfaced in a remix featuring Peaches, an artist Kurstin had previously worked with on her 2006 album Impeach My Bush.

The full-length The Bird and the Bee arrived in January 2007. After the album received television placements, including two episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, the duo toured as openers for Lily Allen. Before the year ended they issued another EP, Please Clap Your Hands, which included a cover of the Bee Gees’ “How Deep Is Your Love,” and supplied a version of “Carol of the Bells” to the various-artists holiday collection Stockings by the Fire released by Hear Music. A further EP of original material, One Too Many Hearts, followed on February 12, 2008, while additional tracks continued to appear in film and television; Live at the Palms surfaced that June.

Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future, the second studio album, emerged in January 2009 and reached number 78 on Billboard’s Top 200. The pair promoted it with a short run of shows that concluded at Carnegie Hall. They fulfilled their Blue Note commitment with the March 2010 release of Interpreting the Masters, Vol. 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates, which debuted at number 75 on the Top 200 and was promoted via the single “Private Eyes.”

Kurstin remained occupied with outside productions in the ensuing years, achieving major successes on Sia’s 2010 album We Are Born and P!nk’s 2013 LP The Truth About Love. In 2014 the duo supplied music for the films Endless Love and Sex Tape, then resurfaced in July 2015 with Recreational Love on Rostrum/Polydor. Fronted by the single “Will You Dance?,” the album peaked at number 38 on Billboard’s Indie Charts.

After focusing on separate endeavors for several years, with the Bird and the Bee name appearing only on soundtrack contributions such as “My Love” in The Big Sick and Imposters in 2017, George and Kurstin reconvened in 2019 to record Interpreting the Masters, Vol. 2: A Tribute to Van Halen. The project yielded the singles “Panama” and “Ain’t Talking ’Bout Love.”