Album Review: Mutual Benefit- Love's Crushing Diamond
Garnering a coveted “Best New Music,” from the holiest of holy, and earning comparisons to The Microphones, Sufjeezy, and Sparklehorse (amongst others) Mutual Benefit’s debut full length, Love’s Crushing Diamond seemed like required listening.
And sure, I can hear echoes of all those things, and I also hear quite a bit of the Grizzly Bear side project Department of Eagles and maybe even a little bit of everyone’s favorite whistler, Andrew Bird. And at times, I can hear an album that is almost too precious for its own good.
“Can we make this any MORE gorgeous sounding?” I can imagine Mutual Benefit’s Jordan Lee asking in the studio—“Can we make the string arrangements sound any MORE sweeping and grandiose?”
Love’s Crushing Diamond isn't a revelation, but it’s also not, like, a bad record or anything (despite my seemingly piss poor attitude towards it.) It’s pretty music for the sake of sounding pretty. Lee’s voice is fragile and earnest; it aches, and wants to be taken seriously over the album’s seven tracks.
Music like this isn’t meant to have high energy, but Mutual Benefit keep the vibe incredibly low key, making this an incredibly sleepy sounding LP. I hate to say that it is derivative of the aforementioned possible influences, and that Jordan Lee is not his own artist—but it’s a little derivative. At times more than a little derivative.
It’s just not that interesting of a listen, and after multiple times through, I know it's not a record I'd be returning to often on my own. Love's Crushing Diamond is the kind of record that, unfortunately, resigns itself almost immediately to being background music—the kind of thing you'd hear in a coffee shop and think, “Oh wow this is so pleasant,” but then not give it a second thought after that.
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