The Bird and the Bee are an American West Coast duo consisting of the honeyed-vocals of Inara George (the "Bird"!) and the instruments of Greg Kurstin (the "Bee"). This, their eponymously-titled debut album, dates from January 2007 but they had already released an EP ("Again and Again and Again" - the tracks from which featuring on this CD), and they went onto putting out a couple more EPs ("Please Clap Your Hands", "One Too Many Hearts") before the end of 2008. A second full-length album is expected imminently - "Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future".

It's safe to say that I go in for slightly more quirky artists at times in addition to the usual batches of female singer-songwriters - The Bird and the Bee have their quirks, true, but also manage to deliver some rather interesting and dare I say it, fairly memorable songs on their debut CD. It's a little retro-sounding, yet completely modern at the same time. I've seen them compared to Tom Tom Club from the 1980s - no, this duo is much classier, stylish and infectious than that. Classed in some quarters as "art-pop" and "electro-pop", if Dominique Durand from Ivy sang lullabies, this is undoubtedly what it would sound like - yet scratch the surface sheen and The Bird and the Bee have included dark imagery, cleverly wrapped up in seemingly saccharin-laden songs.

The track listing on the album runs as follows:

01. Again and Again
02. Birds and the Bees
03. F*cking Boyfriend
04. I'm A Broken Heart
05. La La La
06. My Fair Lady
07. I Hate Camera
08. Because
09. Preparedness
10. Spark

"Creep under my door and we do it again" - "Again and Again" kicks off with a completely understated and mellow instrumental intro, leading into Inara's beautifully sweet rendition of the title, which by its nature, repeats almost ad infinitum during the remaining two and a half minutes. That's not a bad thing, however - this is a deceptively catchy little number with accessible lyrics, and your subconscious will no doubt drag the odd refrain up at the oddest hours after only a few listens. Said remaining minutes are filled with an energy that makes the song seem faster paced than it really is, yet Inara hardly gets out of second gear whilst delivering the goods. In fact, she's almost ethereal during the mid-section break but "Again and Again" never seems fluffy, just destined to lodge in the memory for ever. Hit "repeat" and enjoy it again.... and again....

"Why oh why do the birds do all the flying?" - "Birds and the Bees" is even more sweetly performed that the first track, if that's possible. Think of a lullaby bookended with a little oomph in the choruses, the latter bouncy little pieces that string dozens of words together, so much so that you'd expect Inara to be gasping for breath when the next verse slides in, yet there she is, dreamily delivering those breathy, honeyed tones again. As with "Again and Again", she's never having to stretch - but when you sound this good, why bother? It's more than a few notes short of being described as "twee", since there's a quirkiness running right through the song that keeps it firmly away from being classed as sugary. Oddly enough it holds my attention throughout - and thus became one of my favourite tracks on the album.

"Are you an amateur or is it you're unkind?" - now that we've established Inara George is a sweet-sounded innocent, she goes and totally wrecks this picture with "F*cking Boyfriend", an odd little piece that should ordinarily sit at odds with everything else given the title, but doesn't. Sung by anyone else, there might be a discernible edge to it, but Inara manages to infuse her now-usual soothing tone into her vocals and throws you completely off-balance. What is disturbing is that it's sung in such a sweet, non-offensive way that you're never quite sure that she's actually sang it. In fact, Inara George was once likened to "Audrey Hepburn with the voice of an angel" - well, this angel might have tainted her halo with this particular track, but it's still an enjoyable few minutes. A guilty pleasure, indeed.

"Weep, I know I can't have you" - "I'm A Broken Heart" changes tack slightly as there's a little more emotion intertwines with those delicious tones, but the composition retains plenty of odd little touches in the backing department, Kurstin's love of South American jazz instrumentation getting a run out in the shape of mock trumpets and horns, tinged with jazz standards. Beneath the sheen there is a deeper, darker content to some of the lyrics, though. There's something of an old-school charm about this song, which I just can't quite put my finger on to describe - another of my favourite tracks.

"Make yourself free, make yourself grow" - Karen Carpenter could sing "La La La" and she'd be virtually indistinguishable from Inara George. There's a particular layered harmony running right through the song that's definitely enchanting and the third verse includes some of the oddest imagery I've seen written down for a while - "Take yourself out, hit the tambourine, we have loaded up your eyes, and fed you tangerines". Inventive, yes - quirky, definitely.

"Do you know the way, I am from out of town?" - the previously-mentioned Audrey Hepburn reference is given life in this number, and summoning up "My Fair Lady" is therefore de rigeur. Definitely something of a curio piece, it too has an out-of-time feel to it, despite the musical simplicity on show, and the fact that Ms George trades on her sweet delivery once again. Despite the outwardly-seeming beauty on display, however, there's a dark current running through the lyrics again, but it's easily lost unless you look for it.

"Cool babies with soft operations, holding my hand, throwing coins in my cup" - "I Hate Camera" has arguably the best hook of any track on the album, but even this has to fight for prominence among some excellent instrumentation and bouncy-sounding, almost racy lyrics from Inara. Call it Frente with a edge and plenty of style thrown in for good measure - there's layer upon layer of vocals here which are used to great effect. Plenty going on, lots to listen to and enjoy - and yet it still has its quirky moments, especially in the intro and the all-pervading beat.

"Tell me a tale, something with fire" - "Spark" is definitely the odd one out on this album, though - there's an omnipresent darkness running right through the arrangement that unsettles you straight from the get-go. Inara's usually honey-laden tones retain their poise, grace and sweetness yet they're also tinged with regret throughout. Despite all this, however, it's a wonderful little song in itself - lacking the bouncy charm of the previous numbers it resorts to a haunting yet oddly-charming narrative that grips the listener.

The CD inlay has full lyrics and a couple of photographs.

If you're interested in listening to infectious, stylish and charming songs which still have room for subtle undercurrents and bags of space for quirky little touches, all wrapped up in one of the sweetest voices I've ever heard, then I definitely recommend The Bird and the Bee. Whilst I've alluded to other artists above, in all honesty I can't recall any others that compare - so comparisons are fairly meaningless. What I do know is that this album is one of my favourites, and rarely a week goes by without it either getting a spin on the CD player or several tracks being heard on my iPod.