Who is MJ Lenderman?
Mark Jacob, or Jake Lenderman is better known as MJ these days. While most might not be familiar with his name yet, he has been quietly building a respected following inside the indie music landscape. MJ Lenderman is a multi-instrumentalist from Asheville, NC, and writes with a clever voice that feels fresh amongst his peers in the current scene. Taking a page from writers before him like Neil Young, Jason Molina, and David Berman, Lenderman creates music with a homegrown twang that is both inviting and intriguing.
While he has only been making music under his own name since 2019, he has been a part of other growing acts in the Asheville scene while developing his own solo career at the same time. He plays guitar in the band, Wednesday, who’s last record, Rat Saw God, garnered a large amount of critical acclaim and he also played drums on a few projects from rising artist, Indigo De Souza. Just recently this year, he played guitar and sang backup for multiple tracks on Tigers Blood by Waxahatchee. The lead single, Right Back To It, has already been labeled as one of the best songs of 2024 by multiple publications. From the first listen, Lenderman’s voice and playing just compliments the song and helps it reach new heights. For some, even these credentials would be enough to label Jake as a great artist in his own right, but we haven’t even talked about his own material yet…
What Makes Him Special?
Catholicism, Michael Jordan, and rusted grills. North Carolina pride in his bloodstream. Despite being only 25 years old, Lenderman shows an incredible amount of maturity in his writing. Creating flawed characters and focusing on smaller mundane qualities of life to highlight bigger aspects of the human experience is one of the main calling cards for Lenderman’s storytelling.
In one song, he ponders what famed NFL Quarterback, Dan Marino, must’ve thought about Tom Brady replacing him on a box of Wheaties cereal while browsing the aisles of the grocery store. Ultimately, he claims that Big Dan will be alright, but it’s a clever way to discuss getting old, and perhaps fading away or feeling like your purpose is being lost. MJ does this a lot actually. He uses somewhat silly or even surreal imagery to delve into very serious human feelings and desires. On a song from his fantastic recent album, Manning Fireworks, he mentions a character having a wristwatch that tells him he’s all alone. This current time of being surrounded by technology that makes our lives “easier” can never fully replace that feeling of just wanting love and care from another human being.
His down to earth and empathizing style of writing lyrics paired with his knack for catchy tunes and heartfelt guitar passages, has allowed Lenderman to crawl into the brains of many devoted indie music fans recently.
What Can Be Learned From His Approach?
While his takeover is not complete or fully in the public eye, it’s safe to say he’s just getting started. He cut his teeth on exceedingly great releases like Ghost Of Your Guitar Solo and the fabulous near-classic, Boat Songs. This created more than enough attention for him to eventually sign a deal with well-respected record label, Anti-, in 2023. He then quickly released an incredible live album and began working on his next record. These new songs took full shape on the fresh album, Manning Fireworks.
In the past few months, Lenderman has been the subject of many articles. Some claiming he is the next savior of rock and roll. Others questioning whether he is up to the challenge. MJ himself doesn’t really give in to the hype, and just wants to make quality music at the end of the day. Perhaps his nonchalant and humble approach is what makes him stand out so much from the sea of attention-starved TikTok artists we witness cluttering up our feeds.
Due to this contrary process of going against the social media grind and self-promotion beast every popular artist seems to be plagued with currently, Lenderman has nowhere to go but up in relation to his skills and talent. He just had his first late night show appearance on Jimmy Fallon, and has received positive review upon positive review for his new album. One could argue that being signed to Anti- has given him the budget to create more buzz in the music press, but I think it’s important to note that these songs speak for themselves. He hasn’t changed, but instead has refined and developed.
Closing Thoughts
If Boat Songs saw Lenderman becoming more comfortable with his distinct style, then Manning Fireworks almost feels like a victory lap of sorts at the moment. He has doubled down on what makes MJ Lenderman, well, MJ Lenderman. Years of centering himself around other talented artists in his area, and utilizing the best aspects of his favorite influences, has helped Jake become somewhat of a hometown hero. It has been a joy to see the well-earned and deserved praise come his way. Personally, I can’t wait to see where he goes next, and I have full faith that whatever he does will continue to shine as an authentic statement in a performative and opportunistic industry.
Here are a few gems from MJ Lenderman’s writing that I want to leave you with:
Someone get
The grill out of the rain
Thought you could drink it off
Now you're drowning in your pain
The waves ruin the beach house
Every year on your birthday
They gave this hurricane your human name
How many more bug bites
And other subtle misfortunes can I withstand tonight?
And I've got a houseboat docked at the Himbo Dome
And a wristwatch that's a pocket knife and a megaphone
And a wristwatch that tells me I'm on my own