Love's Crushing Diamond
by Mutual Benefit
Metascore
84

Universal acclaim - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
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  1. New Musical Express (NME)
    Jan 21, 2014
    90
    Lee’s lyrics are sometimes sentimental to the point of potentially seeming trite, but they’re logical for a situation where love and pain have become so overwhelming that simple statements seem the most trustworthy.
  2. Consequence
    Dec 3, 2013
    90
    The succinctness of the record creeps up on you, making it dissolve through your fingers in an unexpected way. But, maybe that’s part of the appeal, the desire for more that it leaves behind, a heightened hunger for baroque-tinged indie pop.
  3. Exclaim
    Dec 3, 2013
    90
    It is minimalist yet lush, hopeful yet rooted in a stark and sometimes grim reality.
  5. Paste Magazine
    Dec 3, 2013
    89
    Love’s Crushing Diamond never is over-intellectualized, but it lets emotion guide the trajectory, and taking something away from the album is dependent on the listener’s willingness to feel.
  6. Pitchfork
    Dec 3, 2013
    85
    [A] collection of seven gorgeous, baroque-folk songs.
  7. AllMusic
    Feb 5, 2014
    80
    Love's Crushing Diamond is a title that captures the hope and hardship in these songs, and the album's kindness and calmness make it the musical embodiment of a friend whose shoulder is ready to cry on at a moment's notice.
  8. DIY Magazine
    Jan 30, 2014
    80
    It seals the chapter of Jordan’s late teens, early twenties, and it lands up being his finest work by a country mile.
  9. Mojo
    Jan 23, 2014
    80
    Love's Crushing Diamond is restful, woven, baroque. [Feb 2014, p.89]
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  10. The 405
    Jan 23, 2014
    80
    All in all it's a time of self-expression and free-revelation, common features that make Love's Crushing Diamond so very beguiling, and warm its very earnest center.
  11. The Independent on Sunday (UK)
    Jan 21, 2014
    80
    Maybe now he can sleep a little less on floors and spend more time making gorgeous albums like this. Please.
  12. Uncut
    Jan 15, 2014
    80
    The result is a meditative, wide-open form of celestial American folk music. [Feb 2014, p.78]
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  13. Under The Radar
    Jan 13, 2014
    80
    Mutual Benefit isn't afraid to be hokey and direct, and in a music environment that can sometimes value cool detachment and perfection a little too much, music like this might be needed more than anyone knows.
  14. musicOMH.com
    Jan 8, 2014
    80
    On Love’s Crushing Diamond, Lee offers seven immaculately composed tracks, all of which feature his refreshingly optimistic ruminations on love and life in today’s world.
  15. The Line of Best Fit
    Jan 8, 2014
    80
    Like the tightrope act of love itself, Love’s Crushing Diamond perseveres through calculated effort never to offend or betray the trust of its betrothed listener.
  16. Boston Globe
    Jan 6, 2014
    80
    Despite comparisons to Bon Iver and Sufjan Stevens, Lee creates folky, orchestral, synth-pop soundscapes that are uniquely his own. Where similar music can sound overproduced, Mutual Benefit has an organic, intuitive quality, more like a hearth-side jam session with friends in a woodsy cabin.
  17. PopMatters
    Jan 6, 2014
    80
    Love’s Crushing Diamond arrives fully formed, a complete sonic work that tenderly guides you along and clothes you in its layered beauty.
  18. Rolling Stone
    Dec 11, 2013
    70
    It's fine music to nest in.
  19. NOW Magazine
    Dec 12, 2013
    60
    The record is full of earnest female backup vocals and frequent reminders (like wind chimes all over the place) that the music is homemade. Yet like a lot of modern folk, the songwriting sometimes gets lost in the shuffle.

Awards & Rankings

37
#37 Best Album of 2013

User Reviews

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User Score
8.5

Universal acclaim- based on 26 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 26
  3. Negative: 1 out of 26
  1. buzzlight
    Dec 30, 2013
    10
    This is a Top 10 album in 2013 for me. I found it therapeutic and spiritual. Slow ethereal songs are bountiful in indie music these days,This is a Top 10 album in 2013 for me. I found it therapeutic and spiritual. Slow ethereal songs are bountiful in indie music these days, but few have taken it to this level in terms of melody and verse. It sounds a bit like Iron and Wine's Shepard Dog, but more patient.… Full Review »
  2. kyle_aaronson
    Dec 7, 2013
    9
    God, this album is good. The only problem it's too short. But, you can go to Mutual Benefit's bandcamp site and download all of his olderGod, this album is good. The only problem it's too short. But, you can go to Mutual Benefit's bandcamp site and download all of his older stuff for whatever price you like. But anyway, Advanced Falconry is a particularly amazing track, but the whole album just blends together it's as if you're listening to one long, gorgeous song.… Full Review »
  3. PooPooPerson
    Dec 4, 2013
    6
    I was excited to give this album a listen after all the hype it received, but it ended up being a little too mellow for me. I found it dull.I was excited to give this album a listen after all the hype it received, but it ended up being a little too mellow for me. I found it dull. Perhaps it's just not my type of genre.… Full Review »
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