Why You Should Be Listening to Mk.gee and His Guitar Wizardry
I grew up listening to and trying to emulate, to the best of my ability, the guitar stylings of the great John Mayer (yes, amid all his tomfoolery). It was not until recently that I’ve jumped on the burgeoning hype train for Mk.gee, who could be this generation's next guitar hero. There’s just something about his demeanor and music that evokes irresistible aura coated with genuine nonchalance.
Twenty-eight-year-old Michael Todd “Mk.gee” Gordon has been silently killing it in the music game, with collaborations with the likes of Justin “Bon Iver” Vernon, Dijon, Canadian hero Justin Bieber, producer Fred Again, among other musical savants.
His unique brand of guitar dexterity and unabashed '80s influences in his music hooked me as soon as I heard the haunting tone from his Fender Jaguar. My genesis for the Mk.gee glaze was when my ears first heard “Are You Looking Up,” and I’m embarrassed to say it was on the Jimmy Kimmel show.
The arpeggiated plucking on what sounded almost like a clean guitar and the country twanginess over his raspy vocals were the type of sound ensemble I typically gravitated toward.
The warm tones and unencumbered, raw emotions riding on Mk.gee’s vocals kept growing on me the more I had his stuff playing in the background and during active listening sessions.
Gordon kept busy this year after dropping his debut LP, with co-writing and co-producing credits on Dijon’s latest album Baby on the songs “Another Baby!,” “Higher!, “Loyal & Marie,” and “Kindalove,” which are all coated with the brittle and reverby Mk.gee sound signature we have come to know and adore.
I have encountered the name Mk.gee constantly in the past year after my conversations with Canadian indie-pop group Valley, and even local music phenoms IV of Spades, who had nothing but praise for the guitar god.
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Much like his contemporary Dijon on the R&B side of things, Mk.gee reminds us a lot of Prince but with a dash of The Police on the vocals and guitar work.
Diving into his debut studio record Two Star & the Dream Police, which dropped last year, Mk.gee’s Lo-Fi, psychedelic, squiggly goodness is mesmerizing, to say the least. The next track that floored me was the brief yet electrifying ‘DNM,’ another Prince-esque R&B tune.
The acronym supposedly stands for “Dijon & Mike” since the track was co-produced by both of them, who have been frequent collaborators and almost musical siblings at this point.
Both Dijon and Mk.gee have this it factor that translates into some of the most compelling music and creative work of our time.
The genre-bending artist places you in his own expansive realm of dreamy, layered vocals, esoteric, and distinct guitar playing, and modular synth additions that show how gifted this next-generation musician is.
“How Many Miles” is an example of how expressive Mk.gee can be with his vocal performances, with his knack for recognizing when to manipulate it or when to go for raw yet subtle belting.
The LP shows production reminiscent of Bon Iver’s 22, A Million (2016) and I, I (2019) but with the hitmaking potential of a John Mayer.
Guitar geeks and independent musicians are constantly pining for the most legendary guitar effects and accoutrements for the perfect pedal board. An introduction to Mk.gee’s signature haunting and brittle tone is a call to rethink our sensibilities and what could be used as tone flavor makers.
Those who have leanings toward progressive or mid-western math rock may find Mk.gee’s stuff to be a natural fit for them, but also accessible enough for the casual listener.
The debut album is without a doubt quite experimental and conceptual in quality, but contains more than a handful of tracks you can latch on to and get lost in.
“Candy” is the pinnacle of Mk.gee’s nostalgic flair with the aural amalgamation of lush synth and guitar work coated in reverb made to sound like keyboard rhythms. His lead guitar playing on the track is a throwback to Prince’s underrated improvisation chops.
Mk.gee is no slouch when it comes to music, theory, or technique.
“Rylee & I” is where you hear the vocal intensity and endearing scratchiness at its fever peak over a distorted wall of sound that showcases his fearlessness in vulnerability.
“I believe I can’t let go/Just when you think you can cut everybody you know,” he sings earnestly.
Admittedly, I am a sucker for anything dreamy and ethereal and why we need to talk about the magic in “Dream Police.” I somehow hear a bit of Phil Collins in this track through the jangly keys and and the era-appropriate drum work, and Mk.gee’s vocals that sound straight out of that beloved period of pop music.
“She lit the world on fire. The Dream Police is alive," are just some of the haunting lines sung—and one hell of a closer to this nearly perfect debut album.
Mk.gee’s unique vocal production and layering can also be heard on the hit single from Bieber’s Swag (2025), "Daisies." The track is an uncharacteristically bedroom-poppy and Lo-Fi–sounding direction for Bieber, which is why we had to look into Mk.gee’s handiwork on the record.
The now recognizable guitar work on "Daisies" was a dead-ringer for Mk.gee’s mastery of the axe, with Dijon co-writing and co-producing the track. It’s no surprise that the tune was destined for chart-topping greatness and instant replayability.
He had also played remarkable guitar and even organ playing credits on the euphoric Bon Iver track “From” from his latest LP SABLE,fABLE.
That Vernon record was already one of my albums of the year because of evolution in stylistic and musical choices in the production, and revisiting it with Mk.gee’s and Dijon’s handiwork in my crosshairs only made me fall in love with this album.
Dijon had also been a major component of the indie folk music producer’s amazing album, lending his vocals for the smash R&B pop track “Day One.”
Mk.gee’s funk, psychedelic, and virtually a slew of other genres that involve reverby and Lo-Fi instrumentation set him up to be a genius and hero for the foreseeable future.
