Mutual Benefit - Love's Crushing Diamond

At first listen, Mutual Benefit's debut album is reminiscent of fingering through old photographs or watching home videos. There is something inherently nostalgic about the folksy guitar picking and sepia-tone production on each and every song on Love's Crushing Diamond, but Mutual Benefit brings much more than nostalgia to the table. Thanks to the sugary hooks and the warm atmosphere brought to this collection, this album makes for a transcendental take on folk music that just sounds like summertime. This collection of songs swims in thick layers of vocal drones, violins, percussion and guitars, and treads a fine line between syrupy and pleasant, thankfully leaning more toward the latter.

Lyrically, front-man Jordan Lee seems surprisingly purposeful despite his laid-back vocals. "Sometimes my heart and mind conspire/to set everything on fire/just to stop the tyranny/of the minute hand on me," warbles Lee in "Golden Wake," a hopeful tune set to a catchy keyboard hook. Perhaps this song could be viewed as a criticism on the trivialities of human life, but the message is easily missed in the tender lack of urgency in Lee's voice. Don't let the summery sounds fool you, because many of the lyrics illustrate a darker story.

Just about every song on this album has a good hook, however soaked in reverb it may be, and with a small amount of patience -- enough to get through the gentle cacophony of instruments that begin and end these songs -- Love's Crushing Diamond could find a place among records like Helplessness Blues (Fleet Foxes) or Wondrous Bughouse (Youth Lagoon). But though this record could be viewed as a unique take on roots music, it seems much more appropriate -- and maybe even more satisfying -- to just appreciate it as damn good songwriting.

I patiently await the warm days ahead so that the outside world might finally begin to feel as alive and beautiful as this record, and I especially look forward to the day that I can enjoy the two together.

Mutual Benefit - Advanced Falconry (Liiiiiiive)

- Kane