Mutual Benefit - Thunder Follows The Light (original) (raw)

Perhaps John Lee's strongest and most personal album to date...

19 · 09 · 2018

It's been two years since John Lee released ‘Skip A Sinking Stone’. It was an album that revelled in its understated beauty. Now Lee has returned along with his revolving door of musicians to release his strongest and most personal work to date, ‘Thunder Follows The Light’.

As with his previous albums, Lee manages to blend folky Americana with orchestral instrumentation and ambient electronica sounds. Lyrically ‘Thunder Follows The Light’ is about our collective struggle, love, loss, death, rebirth and the ongoing destruction of the outer world and how it shapes our inner ones.

The songs that sums this up are ‘Waves Breaking’ and ‘Mountain Shadow’. ‘Waves Breaking’ starts with a lackadaisical guitar, before saxophones gently appear. Swells of sax, piano and percussion grow and grow until there is a crescendo of noise. It's at this point you realise that Lee has crafted something glorious and you fully appreciate his talent as a songwriter. ‘Mountain Shadow’ is built around a catchy chord progression that psych loops, steel guitar, piano and filigree electronics intertwine.

‘Thunder Follows the Light’ is an album that if you take on face value is full of delicate vocals and dreamy melodies, but if you start to dig a bit below its ethereal surface you find something that is incredibly rewarding on repeat listens. This is when the album starts to come into its own and slowly starts to take over your life.

7/10

Words: Nick Roseblade

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