The history of rock n roll is rife with breakthroughs, catalysts for transformation, that propelled musicians into the next creative paradigm without warning. These moments represent forks in the road. The tracks divert. Suddenly the artist moves from the road well-travelled, into unfamiliar territory, into the wild…

For Radnor & Lee, the genesis of the current chapter of their career marked by the release of new album “Golden State” - which displays a clear graduation out of its “side project by two guys who like to do a lot of things” chapter - was equally strange and remarkable.

On the San Paulo stop of their first sold-out tour of Brazil, after soundcheck, the duo were invited to partake in a home-cooked meal of traditional Brazilian Feijoada, cooked by one of the crew members mothers. This traditional stew has a fascinating history.

According to legend, Feijoada was a dish crafted by slaves out of leftovers given to them by their masters, often containing pig feet, ears, tail, and other portions seen unfit for general consumption. While these ingredients have been refined and these days are often seen as more urban legend than reality, what cannot by contested is that this particular Feijoada, delivered by a kind retired art dealer to a rag tag crew of musicians in South America for the first time, was indeed laced with several micrograms of LSD (Your humble author can attest to the veracity of this for he was also at said meal and partook of said dish and experienced the attendant effects.)

We should be careful not to qualify what happened next as some kind of magical event, or “sign,” for the ideas that came to the forefront of Mr Radnor and Mr Lee’s minds during the following days - yes, their altered state lasted days - had indeed been brewing for some time.

There was the reinforcement of the concepts of friendship and adventure. The reminder that “fun” as a guiding principle was “enough.” There was a further scaling of ambition, the notion that plants all grow towards the light, that there is nothing shameful about wanting to be better or to affect more people or touch deeper spaces. 

But above all, there was movement beyond language. A duo that initially prized lyrics as their superpower were suddenly faced with large crowds of non-English speaking humans, bobbing and swaying to their songs. It was clear that something other than wordplay was at work. There was sensuality, tenderness and rhythm. Mr Radnor was seen dancing in new ways. Mr Lee was often uncharacteristically silent. Transformation was at work. 

They began to write songs. And these songs had a different quality. A richness, a warmth, a darkness, a wildness. Mr Lee was more than once heard uttering a phrase as he plugged in his guitar pedals (that Mr Radnor seemed to viscerally dislike): “Psychedelic Jewish Cowboys Forever!” Make of this what you will. 

It was only natural that the recording of these songs would require impeccable taste and sensitivity to their organic nature. With this in mind, our duo brought in Justin Stanley (Prince, Beck, Eric Clapton) to produce: focussing on live recording, few overdubs, analogue gear, and the judicious administering of micro-doses.

Just as authors must write the books they want to read, musicians must make the music they want to hear. Ben and Josh did just that with these eleven new songs. Some are joyful. Some are sad. Some are vindictive. Some of victorious. 

But more than that, we can share the duo’s pleasant surprise at its own development. These songs are a reminder that nothing is permanent, that friendship is real, that music is magic and that life can be wild.