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 | ||||
| Released | September 21, 2018 | |||
| Length | 39:02 | |||
| Label | Transgressive Records | |||
| Mutual Benefit chronology | ||||
| ||||
| 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] |
Critical reception
editThunder 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
editAll 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 |
Personnel
edit|
Musicians
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Production
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References
edit- ^ "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
- ^ a b Donelson, Marcy. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
- ^ a b Roseblade, Nick (September 19, 2018). "Clash Magazine Review". Clash. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
- ^ a b Desler, Madison (September 24, 2018). "Paste Magazine Review". Paste. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
- ^ a b Gordon, Arielle (27 September 2018). "Mutual Benefit Thunder Follows the Light". Pitchfork. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
- ^ Murray, Robin (May 22, 2018). "Mutual Benefit Announces 'Thunder Follows The Light'". Clash. Retrieved August 26, 2020.