It was probably about a year ago when going through my social media I stumbled upon a scruffy looking dude playing a song I can’t remember the name of, and I was like “Right on. I dig this.” That gentleman happened to be Mr. Corduroy Brown. Ever since I have been waiting for this album to come to my ears. Fast forward to about a month ago, and while I was perusing social media Corduroy had a post asking if anyone would like to review his upcoming album and I jumped at the chance. It’s been a few weeks of listening now, and when I first started listening little did I know this album almost literally did not come together. See, back in February Corduroy fought death in the ICU, survived, and Let Me Know has come to us. Seems like we could just end the review right there, I mean, the guy died, came back, and has album out. And a good one at that. Enough said period let’s all go home and listen, however here are some words and I’ll do my best.

The band is comprised of Corduroy’s friends Tyler Cooper (guitar), Jeffrey McClellan (drums), Chris Barker (bass), and throughout the record there were a few guest vocal appearances. On the song “Secret War” I heard Cincinnati’s own Arlo McKinley lending his vocals. The album is thirteen songs long. I believe there is even a voicemail from his mom and a friend in between a couple of tracks, and I just thought that was awesome, for lack of a better word. That lovely voicemail will lead into a beautiful song “To My Younger Self.” The album flows nicely into each track. Whether it be musically or lyrically.

I had a chance to take it on the road with me through some serendipity and a long drive, and I’ll tell y’all the open road with this album felt comfortable. Felt like a feeling I’ve known but through all this pandemic have forgotten. Track after track with this record had me locked in. Throughout the whole album the electric guitars were blazing, the drums crashing, and the bass laying it down nice and smooth. Musically the flow from track to track is well done, and then not to mention the lyrics. Which as the music played through my headphones or speakers Corduroy’s voice and words hit. The mental health struggles, and the conversation therein. The breaking of the stigma behind mental health is nice to hear through song. We all struggle, we all have our struggles, and it’s okay to talk about those. Corduroy simply lends his voice to the talk through his songs.

The album through each of the thirteen tracks has stuck on me. Like a super glue that I cannot wash off. One of the things I love about the album is how through these poignant lyrics the music blends into them, and is sometimes poppy, sometimes rock, and sometimes country. It’s a beautiful thing when all of those are thrown into the blender and out comes a record that you just can’t shake and want to listen to over and over again because you don’t want the ride to be over.

I had zero expectations coming into the listening of Corduroy’s record and they far exceeded whatever I thought it would or wouldn’t be. A great record makes this easy to do, because all I really needed to say was everything I said in the first paragraph along with just listen for yourself. No two experiences could be the same, we might catch the same vibe, but we come at a record through our own experiences in the life we trod. This is a beautiful record. I highly recommend checking it out, checking the band out when they get a chance to see you. I’d like to end on a quote from Corduroy. Through this process he sent me some information and there was this sentence that I read from him that I feel like sums up this review. Corduroy Brown is the band and Let Me Know is the record, and here is the quote: “I want to make sure I mean everything I’m saying and it’s heartfelt.”