The Bird and the Bee’s Recreational Love: a great mix of emotion and indie lyricism

The Bird And The Bee are an indie-pop band from California made up of instrumentalist Greg Kurstin and vocalist Inara George. Recreational Love is their fourth release under this moniker and if you’re looking for something a bit different, outside the usual Top 40 pop charts, this may very well be your thing.

I found this album whilst browsing around Spotify and was intrigued by the naming, the cover art and the general sound of the whole thing. Whilst there are remnants of doo-wop, and early 60s jazz in there, this is distinctly indie-pop a la Lily Allen or Lorde. It contains just the right blend of upbeat, peppy, sing-a-long’s, and laid-back, emotive pieces without over doing it either way.

Songs such as Will You Dance and Doctor are prime examples of the former; bursting with excitement and easy-on-the-ear pop music that doesn’t sound like it’s been overly hit with a production hammer. Other songs like Recreational Love and We’re Coming To You are poignant enough without being bland and sappy.

Lyrically, they’re generally a step up from the cheerier songs on the album, which use repetition in earnest, but again, not overly so, and it rarely gets annoying or feel cheap in that regard.

Lovey Dovey is a fantastic track and is probably the most emotional track. I loved the use of what sounds like a (American) phone dial tone as a musical element, with George’s great vocals and moving lyrics, it all add up to a nicely packaged track and certainly stands out as just a great piece of music, you could even consider it shoe gazing music if you really want to.

Whilst the album doesn’t do anything ground-breaking, honestly it just sounds like most other indie-pop albums out there, it does have a heart and a really good mix of emotion, sounds, instruments and lyrical themes. It’s certainly nothing spectacular by any means, but if you’re looking for something new and different to check out, I would recommend this.

If you’re perhaps growing bored of the charts, it’s a fine alternative to the overly polished sounds coming out of the other side of California.