First Savoy Jazz starts distributing Saint Etienne in North America, and now this: Blue Note putting out an album by an act that doesn’t sound very jazzy. The Bird and the Bee is one of the latest projects by Los Angeles singer/songwriter Inara George, who has previously put out an album on her own called All Rise. I mention this mainly because I’ve heard of her before, but can’t remember where; this probably means she’s either been featured on KCRW or Pandora, seeing as how that’s where I seem to find all my vaguely generic, obscure artists these days.

The Bird and the Bee has far exceeded George’s solo profile, apparently popping up on the Tonight Show of all places. I don’t know what they played, but I’m going to guess it wasn’t current single “Fucking Boyfriend”—I’m willing to believe that Middle America is ready for light electronic pop, but not swearing on Leno. One obvious candidate is album opener “Again and Again,” one of those guilty pleasures that probably belongs on a Starbucks CD (or the soundtrack to Garden State, oh no I didn’t!). Give it a listen and you’ll note two things. One, this isn’t jazz any more than the Postal Service is deep house; the Bird and the Bee resemble the slick, Euro-influenced electronic pop of Club 8 or Ivy more than any jazz I’ve ever heard, and while the world can never have too much Club 8, it still begs the question of why Blue Note thought the Bird and the Bee were a good fit for their roster.

The second thing you might notice a bit later is that the band’s own description, “a futuristic 1960’s American film set in Brazil,” is surprisingly dead on despite the lack of resemblance to most traditional jazz styles. And not just in the sense that the Bird and the Bee are heading in the same electronic direction as many bona-fide new jazz (nu jazz, if you must) artists are; I mean there’s a distinct sense that you are, indeed, listening to some retro-futuristic echo of Brazilian jazz, with the same laid back atmosphere and ineffable sense of cool coated in minimalist synths and soothing electronic whispers. Maybe the people at Blue Note know what they’re doing after all.