Cory Mon album release preview 

• Cory Mon
• Cory Mon

Sometimes, hearing the story behind an album is almost as interesting as listening to the album itself. When you know the details of how it came together and more of the meaning behind the songs, it becomes that much more personal and meaningful. Local singer/songwriter Cory Mon's latest album is chock full of such interesting and fascinating lore—along with being a great listen.

You Don't Know Me is the first new release Mon has put out in about a decade, coming after many years of ups and downs (heavy on the downs). However, Mon is back and better than ever, and has been enjoying every moment creating and releasing the songs on the album. While a lot of the songs have darker source material, and while people often listen to the tracks and wonder if he's struggling, nothing could be further from the truth. Mon is in a great place personally.

"I'm actually fucking fantastic," he said. "My life, and maybe people say this and it's maybe a little too flippant, but my life has never been better. I've never been more me and more together, and feel like mental health is just like, I feel fucking fantastic. I love where my life's headed now, and I've never felt this complete."

Over the years during which the songs had been written, they still needed to be recorded. Luckily, Mon met fellow singer/songwriter and producer Scott Rogers of The Proper Way, and the stars aligned. "I noticed when I brought [Scott] the more moody songs, he ate them up," Mon said. These songs had been therapeutic for Mon over the years, tackling themes of fatherhood, divorce and mental illness, so Rogers was just the man to help bring the songs to life.

"We've decided that our studio, our elevator pitch is going to be, 'Have you recently gotten divorced? Or have you left the church recently?'" Rogers joked.

While the heavy tones are present, You Don't Know Me is ultimately about the healing that comes after all of the hurt. It's easy to say that's what the album is about, but it was harder to actually put the songs together and release them to the world.

"A lot of these songs, because they were therapy songs, weren't meant to see the light of day," Mon explained. "They were written for me. I think I've gotten past the point where I'm writing for anyone or writing for a result. So, it's interesting. It's been really interesting. It was emotional to go in and record these songs."

That emotion is front and center in all of Mon's songs. He's slowly been releasing the tracks as singles, then they'll be compiled into an album which is due out March 30; two songs that haven't yet been released as singles will be available on that date. The songs that are out now, though, are endearing, heart-wrenching, hopeful and so full of emotion, it's hard not to feel while listening.

Take for example, "Clock Light." The final cut of the song is of Mon on vocals with Shane Osguthorpe (another member of The Proper Way) and nothing else. The electricity created by these two is palpable, and the emotion thick. You can hear Mon struggling to get through the song without breaking down, adding another layer of depth to the track. If you watch the video, which is posted on Mon's socials, you'll see that Osguthorpe never looks up from the keys for fear of breaking down himself. I (triple)-dog-dare you to watch the video and try not to choke up. "Something that's so powerful like that, you just can't add anything to it," Rogers said.

Then you get songs on the album like "Sun Don't Shine (Kiss Me Where)" that create an entire soundscape for you to dive head-first into. Mon brought the song into the studio and Rogers immediately had ideas for the sound. "I thought, 'Man, this sounds like Tom Waits doing a song about New Orleans or something.' And as somebody who's from down around New Orleans, I just started thinking about sounds and smells and things like that, and eating a Lucky Dog on the street at 2:30 in the morning in the French Quarter, which there's nothing quite like it," he said.

From that inspiration, they added sounds like steam, mechanical noises, dripping water, an old rotary phone and even some chattering teeth for good measure. "If you're listening with headphones, a lot of these songs really reward listening with headphones, because something is moving around all over the place," Rogers said.

While you go on the emotional ride that this album inevitably takes you on, Mon and Rogers want you to remember one thing: that they're okay. You don't need to call them up, or ask them on their socials if they're alright, because even though the songs are a tad on the sad side, they're very glad that they're out in the world for everyone to hear.

"Candidly, it's not been easy, because these weren't meant to be for other people," Mon said. "They were meant to be something for me, and they mean a lot to me. But I've been like, 'Yeah, well, if I'm releasing them, I'm going to tell all the stories.'"

Find Cory Mon on Facebook or Instagram, @corymonmusic, and catch him at his album release show Saturday, March 30 at The State Room. The Proper Way opens and performs with Mon starting at 8 p.m. Tickets for the 21+ show are $20 and can be found at thestateroompresents.com.