inara george :: an invitation

the second solo album from inara george , an invitation , is a collaboration with van dyke parks (who helped, among many others, joanna newsom arrange ys. ) and sounds a lot like the early, jon brion-produced (and a.g. endorsed) version of fiona apple's extraordinary machines , in which the almost cabaret light as air bounce of the instrumentation was decidedly at odds with apple's songwriting. an invitation possesses that same orchestral bounciness, though while george's lyrics are here and there dusted with melancholia they aren't as heavy as fiona's - which were written in the wake of a relationship gone sour - and instead offer, through a series of vignettes, as the title suggests, something of an outstretched palm.

an invitation was recorded with an orchestra over a two day live session at sunset sound in l.a. and the process has given the record a warm & organic feel, which will be plenty in evidence on the two songs below.

inara george with van dyke parks - duet

inara george with van dyke parks - accidental


listen to a few more songs from an invitation and find george's tour dates over here . and finally because it's tangentially related but mostly because we simply really like fiona, here's a favorite from extraordinary machines :

fiona apple - better version of me