Review: Thunder Follows The Light by Mutual Benefit

Label: Mutual Benefit

Words by Luke Janke

Jordan Lee of Mutual Benefit has been making strikingly calm and cerebral soundscapes for nearly a decade now and his latest delves into topics of the environment, collective pain and how the ongoing destruction of the outer world shapes the storms of our inner ones.

Thunder Follows The Light is a light, plucky journey down a bayou of dreams. The banjo work in songs like “Written in Lightning” carries you away on a cloud of enlightenment. On first listen, I got a “Rainbow Connection” vibe, just without the singing frog and more intention and contemplation.

the winds have been rising /torrid and frightening /clouds have been gathering /On our way home

Distant feedback-laden guitar drenches the background of “Waves, Breaking” as wailing saxaphones build, escalating into a cacophony of tremendous void.

Many of the songs have water and rain themes in the lyricism, a rallying call to the potential storm to come in a variety of ways; whether it’s geopolitical, environmental or regarding death, this album has a self awareness of the times to come with all of us. This ideology comes to a lulling still in the track “No Dominion,” where Lee provides a comforting psalm.

say say say you will /brave the storms that rage in you still /and a heart can stir at the toll it takes /but a soul can never break

These enrapturing choruses build and fill like a lake thawing in the spring after a long, cold winter.

For an album that is both lyrically and structurally complex, there’s nothing to be said about this album if not for its instrumental compositions. The acute detail in every layer of every song is decadent and gorgeous, teaming with strings, synths, melodies and inventive percussion. Not to mention, the production is lush and beefy.

“I'm really proud of how this one came out and couldn't be more grateful for all the big and small collaborations that gave these songs life,” Lee said in a tweet following the release.

Mutual Benefit has always been a pillar of love and support in its mission to make astonishingly beautiful music collage and swirling compositions that draw your thoughts to a centering breath.