LA-based indie pop group The Bird and the Bee consist of Greg Kurstin and Inara George, who mainly rely on a winsome formula that Pitchfork's Joshua Klein describes as George's [charmingly aloof] winning coo [...] [and] Kurstin's [decidedly eccentric] exotic space-age jazz production". Their music template reminds me of Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Camera Obscura, except that it's packaged with a breezy, pleasant lightness, and a tendency to insist on not taking itself too seriously.
"Love Letter to Japan", a track from The Bird and the Bee's second studio album Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future (2009) is a good example of the kind of contemporary space-age pop that the duo are generally known for. AllMusic.com's Andrew Leahey describes the album's sonic template as "pure NPR music, all neo-jazz melodies and martini-lounge flourishes"; "Love Letter to Japan" also adds in some global pop touches with the inclusion of a fist-pounding “Ho ho ho ho!” refrain (which sounds like sound effect from a Japanese games show), choral background vocals and vocoded Japanese lyrics.
The lyrics aren't really a ground-breaking meditation on intercultural differences between American and Japan, but work to create a perfectly servicable and melodic pop love song with an international twist:
'From the west to the east I have flown to be near youI have come all this way to be close, to be here with youAnd now, all my heart I will lay down precisely at your feetMy beloved, oh my sweetAll the gifts you have given meThe patience and the peaceCherry blossoms and the candyI am yours, I am yoursFor as long, for as long as you will have me'
There's not much that much depth or reflection here (after all, this East-meets-West romance hasn't actually begun), but plenty of ear candy to compel multiple listens. While CoS' Alex Young argues that The Bird and The Bee are better off for not attempting any 'philosophy of life and romance' ("nothing’s sadder than lighthearted music getting dragged down by big—and likely half-baked—ideas"), I can't help but agree with Klein's point about their music leaving you pleased and intrigued - but ultimately wanting more:
"Like a Mojave Desert mirage shimmering tantalizingly before disappearing, Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future is ultimately left little more than a string of sweet nothings, there for your fleeting pleasure. It's a pop tease."
