You may recognize Inara George’s voice from its place fronting LA indie duo The Bird and the Bee, but George has had a solo career dating back to two years before TBATB’s debut. With four solo records under her belt, George recently announced her first EP, The Youth of Angst, which is slated to drop this Friday.
With “Brother” already out in the world, she’s previewing that track’s two complementary numbers: the preceding “1973” and succeeding “Sex in Cars.” They match the sweet poppiness of their predecessor, and nicely complementing the work George has accomplished thus far as a solo artist and among the many other projects she’s been involved with.
Stream the EP in full here, and read on to see what George had to say about all three songs.
1. “1973”
“1973” is a song I wrote for a friend. She lost a child almost ten years ago and to mark [the child’s] birthday every year, I write a song. The songs end up being about him, but also about her, and “1973” is really a love song about our friendship.
2. “Brother”
I wrote this song for my brother. It was his fiftieth birthday and I wanted to give him a gift. And I was trying to capture that devotion that I felt for him when I was younger. I see this kind of love in my kids. Especially my youngest son with his eldest brother. How much he looks up to him and wants to have what he has and be like him. And I did read it somewhere that your siblings are actually the most important people for your entire life. That bond from the earliest years to the end of life. No one will know you better than your brother can.
3. “Sex in Cars”
I wrote “Sex in Cars” after the artist Terry Allen asked if I’d be a part of an art installation he was creating for The Contemporary Austin. When he asked me to write the song, I immediately thought of a photograph by RJ Shaughnessy that I had bought as a gift for my husband (the cover of The Youth of Angst features that shot). Wendy and I recorded several different versions of this song, but there was something about more production that seemed to make it slip away from its initial intention. The version that made it to the final recording is actually the original voice memo that I sent to Terry. I still haven’t had a chance to see that installation, I hope I can someday…soon.
