Folk songwriter duo Radnor and Lee knew they wanted to write a timeless song with a widespread reach for their sophomore record. They did just that by taking their newest single “Outside In” to every creative landscape they could, from its conception in Brazil to the studio in Los Angeles.
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“We started this song In Brazil, finished it in Argentina, brought it to life on stage in Australia and we peeled it back at home in the studio in Los Angeles,” said Radnor and Lee. The song had ripened through all these travels and was ready for consumption. There’s only two ways to define yourself and this song is about choosing one way over the other.”
“I can’t picture any of these songs written by people in their twenties,” said vocalist and guitarist Ben Lee. “They’re the product of hard-learned lessons. We both feel resistance to living from the outside in.”
The single was produced by Justin Stanley who has worked with Beck, Eric Clapton and Sheryl Crow and Stanley’s stamp can be heard through the song’s polished vocals, placed at the forefront of the song’s mix, adding emphasis on the lyrics and lovely harmonies between Radnor and Lee. The acoustic riffs simplistic and stripped-down shine equally as bright, as the production shares an affinity for beautifully engineered acoustic tones, which add a certain warmness to the song.
“Outside In” comes off of Radnor and Lee’s forthcoming album Golden State, out May 8 by way of Flower Moon Records. This is the duo’s second project together and a move away from the side project perspective they both shared during the early days of the group. As creatives with accomplished careers in both television and music from Josh Radnor’s starring roles on the cast of How I Met Your Mother and Hunters to Ben Lee’s seasoned music career spanning eleven solo albums, the duo initially treated their newest musical endeavor as more of a passion project, but their focus quickly turned. The band realized their dreams cumulate in front of their eyes after a show during their first sold-out tour of Brazil. In triumph of their tour successes, the band also recalled a somewhat magical experience that night, while playing to a crowd, where English was not their first or second language, still they danced and sang and the music’s essence could be felt.
