Combining the eclecticism of Beck, the pop-based experimentation of the Flaming Lips, and the bushy facial hair of Rip Van Winkle, Benji Hughes is an eccentric singer/songwriter hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina. A former house painter, Hughes joined the roster of New West Records in the mid-2000s, having wooed president Cameron Strang with his diverse songcraft and ability to handle multiple instruments. Hughes then decamped to Silverlake, California, where he crafted his debut album, the ambitious, two-disc A Love Extreme. In 2015, he inked a deal with Merge and headed back into the studio to begin work on a new full-length. The resulting Songs in the Key of Animals dropped in early 2016. ~ Andrew Leahey