Thunder Follows the Light (original) (raw)

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2018 studio album by Mutual Benefit

Thunder Follows the Light
Studio album by Mutual Benefit
Released September 21, 2018 (2018-09-21)
Length 39:02
Label Transgressive Records
Mutual Benefit chronology
Skip a Sinking Stone(2016) Thunder Follows the Light(2018)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 76/100[1]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [2]
Clash 7/10[3]
Paste 8.1/10[4]
Pitchfork 6.4/10[5]

Thunder Follows the Light is the third studio album by American indie rock band Mutual Benefit. It was released on September 21, 2018 under Transgressive Records.[6]

Thunder Follows the Light was met with "generally favorable" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 76, based on 7 reviews. Marcy Donelson for AllMusic praised the lyrics and imagery, and said of the album "its woven timbres and rhythms are constructed in a way that would be dazzling if not so subdued".[2] In a review for Clash, Nick Roseblade called the album "[Lee's] strongest and most personal work to date", and said "if you start to dig a bit below its ethereal surface you find something that is incredibly rewarding on repeat listens".[3] Madison Desler for Paste praised the album's political themes and called it, "ambient, folky and gorgeously arranged."[4] A review by Arielle Gordon for Pitchfork took a more critical view, finding the lyricism to "lack potency": "This doe-eyed optimism is easily digestible, and that is perhaps the biggest issue: the realities Lee purports to write about are not easy." Gordon also acknowledged Lee's skill as a composer, but found the instrumentation often too "cloying" to adequately deal with the weighty subject matter.[5]

All tracks are written by Mike Clifford, Jake Falby, Jordan Lee, and Dillon Zahner

No. Title Length
1. "Written in Lightning" 5:17
2. "New History" 3:12
3. "Storm Cellar Heart" 2:51
4. "Shedding Skin" 4:49
5. "Come to Pass" 2:42
6. "Waves, Breaking" 5:02
7. "No Dominion" 2:49
8. "Mountain's Shadow" 3:17
9. "Nightingale" 4:18
10. "Thunder Follows" 4:45
Musicians Jordan Lee – primary artist Lib Bee – vocals Gabriel Birnbaum – saxophone Mike Clifford – guitar Pier Harrison – vocals Noah Klein – flute Felix Walworth – drums Jake Falby – violin Production Josh Bonati – mastering Carlos Hernández – engineer Brian Deck – engineer
  1. ^ "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Donelson, Marcy. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Roseblade, Nick (September 19, 2018). "Clash Magazine Review". Clash. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Desler, Madison (September 24, 2018). "Paste Magazine Review". Paste. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Gordon, Arielle (27 September 2018). "Mutual Benefit Thunder Follows the Light". Pitchfork. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  6. ^ Murray, Robin (May 22, 2018). "Mutual Benefit Announces 'Thunder Follows The Light'". Clash. Retrieved August 26, 2020.