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Not many have much love for the EP. Anybody can count the days to a full-length album’s release date, but only die hard fans take note of when an artist’s newest EP will drop. That being said, indie pop duo The Bird and the Bee (made up of producer/keyboardist Greg Kurstin and songbird Inara George) released their self-titled debut album of jazzy electro-pop last January to rave reviews from purists and hipsters alike. Now, nine months later, the pair returns with five-track EP Please Clap Your Hands that features a handful of golden pop gems that will only gain them more fans. 

George sings with an airy femininity that mixes ethereal beauty with a sinister irony that make her vocals  edgy despite their lounge sound. Paired with Kurstin’s breezy instrumentation, her breathy crooning makes for the perfect easy listening for a younger, stylized ear. 

Each track features lyrics peppered with euphemisms and tongue-in-cheek references layered on top of a backdrop of a light jazz sound. Take, for example, Polite Dance Song. Over simple electronic beats, George calmly requests, “Give it up for me please. Put your hands in the air. If you know what’s good for you, you want to shake it like you just don’t care.” It’s a comedic combination of words and sound that somehow ends up making you want to dance instead of  laugh out loud.

Also enjoyable is the haunting sparseness of The Races. Though I’m not exactly sure what the song is even about, George’s dulcet tones are simultaneously melancholy and frustrated, plus there’s a whistling break that will no doubt remind many of Peter Bjorn and John’s ever popular Young Folks.

If you're not sold on the mini-album already, the EP closes with the duo’s stripped down version of the Bee Gees classic How Deep Is Your Love. If you love the Bee Gees, it’s a perfect reworking that pays due tribute by staying true to the nature of the song while adding their own trademark sound. If you hate the Bee Gees, it takes away all the 70s flourish of the original, leaving only the bare awesomeness of the classic love ballad. So sure, Please Clap Your Hands only has five songs and maybe there are whole albums you could buy for the price of this EP, but its more than worth it.