Radnor and Lee

Radnor and Lee is an American indie folk duo made up of Josh Radnor and Ben Lee. Radnor is known for playing Ted Mosby on the CBS sitcom *How I Met Your Mother* and for writing and directing the films *Happythankyoumoreplease* and *Liberal Arts*. Lee started his music career at 14 with the Sydney band Noise Addict, later releasing 11 solo albums and working with artists like Daniel Johnston and Zooey Deschanel. The two met on the set of *How I Met Your Mother* and knew each other for about twelve or thirteen years before writing songs together. After deciding to write a song, they found it went well, wrote another, and then chose to make a record. Their shared interest in spirituality and philosophy inspired the collaboration, with producer Ryan Dilmore calling them “singer-psalmwriters.” They describe their goal as writing from the perspective of people who have lived some life, aiming for reflection, wisdom, and humility, and making music that celebrates the complexity of where they are in their lives.

Their debut self-titled album came out on November 10, 2017. Yahoo! debuted the first single “Be Like the Being” on May 8, 2017, calling the album “witty, hopeful, yearning, joyful, searching and meditative.” AllMusic premiered “Doorstep” on August 8, 2017, noting that “joyful spirituality abounds as their voices blend with layers of acoustic guitar and an organ.” On August 14, 2017, Paste premiered the video for “Be Like the Being,” which Radnor said is about simplicity and knowing we have everything we need if we get out of our own way. In April 2018, the duo announced an Australian East Coast Tour for May 2018 and appeared on Australia’s *Today* show. Their single “Here” was featured on the TV series *Rise* in May 2018. Medium called the album “The Best Spiritual Album I Have Ever Heard.”

In December 2019, Radnor told *Us Weekly* that a second album would come out in 2020. On January 17, 2020, the duo posted on social media that the new record would be out “soon” on Flower Moon Records, a label owned by Azure Ray’s Maria Taylor. On February 19, 2020, *Spin* announced the album *Golden State* would be released on May 8, 2020, and premiered the first single “Outside In.” *Spin* described the album as “a bit darker lyrically” than their first, with the title referring more to a state of mind than California.