Thunder Follows the Light

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
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 21, 2018 (2018-09-21)
Length39:02
LabelTransgressive Records
Mutual Benefit chronology
Skip a Sinking Stone
(2016)
Thunder Follows the Light
(2018)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic76/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Clash7/10[3]
Paste8.1/10[4]
Pitchfork6.4/10[5]

Critical reception

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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]

Track listing

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

No.TitleLength
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

Personnel

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References

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  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.