Mutual Benefit’s debut album Love’s Crushing Diamond was a labor of love for 25-year-old Jordan Lee. In many ways, cialis this album is his life story told in decibels.
I had the pleasure of seeing Mutual Benefit come to life this weekend at PA’s Lounge. I’m thrilled to have seen them here and now for a couple of reasons:
- Live violinists make my heart flutter like no other;
- Mutual Benefit is on the cusp of great things. If they were a pot of water, troche this is the pre-boil moment where you see the first flurry of bubbles.
Thanks to recent hype from Pitchfork (“Best New Music!”) and Stereogum (“Band To Watch!”), Mutual Benefit sold out of the initial pressing of Love’s Crushing Diamond early this month. But don’t worry — if you’re just now catching wind of this group, they’ve teamed up with Other Music Recording Co. to do a second run.
Originally from a small Ohio suburb, Lee hopped between Boston, NYC, Austin, St. Louis, and back to Ohio again during the recording process and happened upon numerous happy musical accidents (like wind chimes and old organs in friends homes) along the way. It shows.
Love’s Crushing Diamond doesn’t sound like it just came out of a studio. The field recorded elements make the record expansive and intimate at the same time as the sounds manage to carry the distance and journeys with them. More importantly, the record sounds effortless despite how many layers there really are.
Seeing the tracks live stripped away the illusion of effortlessness as I watched Lee swap between five different instruments (six including his voice)
to make it all come together. Lee notes that a lot of the lyrical content was therapeutic, as he wrote the songs while loved ones were struggling through rough patches. When violinist Jake Falby wasn’t serenading the house on the strings front, he was seated at the back corner of the stage grinning from ear-to-ear and clapping for Lee between each track. Lee has a lot to give, and it is pretty clear between the stellar reviews and packed house that it’s all coming right back to him.
The next time I see Mutual Benefit, though, it probably won’t look the same. Lee’s live set-up is as fluid as the melodies he orchestrates. “At this point, I can do a solo set if I need to…the lineups [are just kinda like] ‘Who’s around? Who has a space to play? Who can take off work to go on a 2-week tour?’” Lee said in an interview with Stereogum.
Everything about Mutual Benefit is simply endearing. Stand out tracks of the night were “Advanced Falconry” and “Let’s Play/Statue of a Man.” The former was interrupted by cringe-worthy interference, but Lee remained light hearted and joked, “Sorry, that’s just my mom trying to call, she’s just trying to check in!”
Lee is 100% present with his audience. He managed to make eye contact and smile each time he noticed a new friend emerge in the crowd. Lee is a natural, and this is just the beginning. One can only hope we get a few more Boston gigs out of Mutual Benefit soon. Lee doesn’t stay in any one place for too long, so catch him at this stage while you can. I have a feeling the stars are going to align for this one.