Kneebody & Inara George – New Single “How High” feat. Inara George (The Bird and The Bee)

Kneebody + Inara George (The Bird and The Bee) 

to Release New Single “How High”

Available February 2 on Motéma Music

Seventeen years in and the genre-bending electric jazz collective Kneebody is stronger and more diverse than ever. After the release of their critically acclaimed ninth studio album Anti-Hero, Kneebody teams up with Inara George — from indie pop darlings The Bird and The Bee — on “How High,” the next chapter in the long history of this genre-defying band. This song is the first in a string of singles and collaborations with new artists that will come from Kneebody in the future. 

“Inara is a powerhouse and kind of an icon here in LA.,” says bassist, producer and songwriter Kaveh Rastegar. “She has one of the most recognizable and wonderful voices and the songs she writes are so good. She has made so much great music whether it’s with her own albums or with The Bird and The Bee, her project with producer multi-instrumentalist Greg Kurstin.”

After the release of Anti-Hero and months of touring internationally, Kneebody began the process of talking about writing songs with other artists. “We all thought of working with Inara right away,” says Rastegar. “I was so excited that she wanted to get together to write this song.” Kneebody’s relationship with George is not new, with George contributing vocals to an early song in their discography — before the band was even known as Kneebody and released the album Wendel.  

Saxophonist Ben Wendel recalls that early collaboration with fond memories and relates that experience to this new creations. “It was an organic process, when we decided we wanted to collaborate with new artists we knew how well we all would work together given our previous history,” says Wendel. 

“How High” came together in a very natural way one day with Rastegar playing guitar and George singing. The idea was to write a song that was positive and devotional as the main focus. “I think that those ideas and feelings came through in this song,” reflects Rastegar. 

“It was such a fun session,” says George. “I felt like we sort of let ourselves get experimental while still writing something that’s melodic and hopefully beautiful.” Fans of Kneebody and Inara George alike will feel right at home between this marriage of artists, especially having an icon like George joining a band that truly makes it a goal to not be confined to any genre. Although Kneebody exists in the broad definition of instrumental music, this collaboration proves their influences and musical diversity comes from an enormous array of music genres.