Who | Mutual Benefit

When | Friday, April 22

Where | Kantine am Berghain, Berlin

For fans of: Villagers, Grandaddy

Mutual Benefit is the brainchild of  Jordan Lee, an American singer-songwriter with a sweet, soft voice and a knack for making music that sounds simply magical. Best described as a concoction of lo-fi indie chamber folk, his subtly rich compositions are filled to the brim with swelling fiddles,vibraphone, twinkling bells, saloon-style piano, fluttering flutes, and ambient synth passages, all grounded by the soothing strumming of his guitar and banjo. Though Lee’s been performing under his Mutual Benefit moniker since 2009, he’s only released one full-length LP thus far, 2013’s much-adored Love’s Crushing Diamond. But soon the wait for a follow-up will be over.

We’ve only had a couple of glimpses into Mutual Benefit‘s sophomore album, Skip a Sinking Stone (out May 20th), yet already, he’s got everyone hooked. Taking the at times surreal quality of his sound and running with it, Lee has said that much of the inspiration for this album he drew from the dreamworld and its influence on our everyday lives. On the latest single (oh-so-aptly titled ‘Lost Dreamers’) he sings, “If we get lost in a dream/wasn’t it worth all we’ve seen?/High off of some strange hope/why would we ever go back home,” and there’s a sense that his positivity is unwavering, making a case for a life lived with your head up in the clouds. This might all come across as overly sappy, but honestly, you probably can’t get more profoundly sincere and heartwarming than Mutual Benefit.