Mutual Benefit
Mutual Benefit is the songwriting outlet for multi-instrumentalist and producer Jordan Lee, who like Henderson, has received the combination blessing and curse that comes with having sites like Stereogum (2013 Band to Watch) and Pitchfork (2014 Best New Music, the first BandCamp project ever acknowledged as such by the site) declare him the biggest thing in orchestral folk since the Fruit Bats, and the next worthy successor to Bright Eyes.
Though he’s written his fair share of sad and lovelorn tracks, Lee’s upcoming album, Thunder Follows the Light (due September 21 via Transgressive Records), seems to announce his entry into the historical pop market once exemplified by Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” or Tim Curry’s “I Do the Rock.” The first single, “New History,” is a kind of post-modern Schoolhouse Rock protest song, unfolding a bittersweet take on both cold and current events courtesy of jaw-dropping guest vocals from Yohuna’s Johanne Swanson. The tune’s barely restrained ferocity and its guest singer’s impassioned delivery may be hard to replicate when Mutual Benefit plays the Soda Bar on November 14, ‘pending who or what Lee brings with him to City Heights.