The Bird and the Bee

The Bird and the Bee

California duo the Bird and the Bee’s self-titled full-length is grabbing attention for “F***ing Boyfriend,” singer Inara George’s plaint to her should-be lover (“Are you an amateur?” she wonders of his apparent disinterest). It’s hardly the only small miracle on this lounge-pop wonder, though. “I’m a Broken Heart” is, like most of these tracks, a display of lovely unhappiness; George’s musical partner Greg Kurstin’s arrangement makes it sound like what would’ve happened had Burt Bacharach wandered into the studio while Brian Wilson was cutting Pet Sounds. “Again & Again,” about a compulsive sexual relationship (and sexier-sounding than that description implies), could be what happens after George’s character wins the guy in “Boyfriend.” And while “My Fair Lady” swears to “take it all with little grains of salt,” “La La La” is a truly sunny reverie.

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