Bird and the Bee Focus on Parenthood While Writing New Album

The Bird and the Bee intend to follow their covers set, 'Interpreting the Masters, Vol. 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates,' with a new studio album in 2011. "We love covers, but we love writing our own music. Making a covers record was a good way to break it up," singer Inara George tells Spinner. "It was a nice way to take a breather but continue working."

When the duo released the Hall and Oates tribute record last spring, both George and her partner, pianist/producer Greg Kurstin, were on their way to becoming parents. "We were working against the clock and just powered through them," George says. "We don't deliberate about much, anyway."

No real details have been announced about the forthcoming album, the duo's first original set since 2009's 'Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future,' but parenthood takes precedence. "I'm ready to have a kid and be a mom," George says. "Greg and I, the way we write is in short little bursts, once, twice, maybe three times a week. We have a lot of songs written -- we don't like to be caught off guard. We don't like to write to a deadline. So, we always get together every week so we have a good amount of songs to choose from."

The Bird and the Bee also intend following up with another covers set at some point. "We like to put projects out in front of us for the future. We talk about making a musical and doing a kids record as well," George says. "We don't tour a ton, so our remedy of staying present is putting out more music. Rather than try to write as much material as possible, we think of cool new ways to keep recording but not be on the road for half of the year. It doesn't work for us. We love making music, we love playing music live, but we don't like the schlep."