“Love is the coal that makes this train roll.”
– The Black Keys

 

This record was a true labor of love that took more than a year of our lives to make, and even

longer to write. I will be using these blogs, over the coming weeks, to talk about the songwriting

process and production techniques for each track, as well as some of the larger spiritual and

philosophical themes this record explores. And I'll begin, appropriately, at the beginning…

You Bring Me Life

This is the oldest song on the record. I had written and recorded a demo of this song two years

before we started on Let It Be Love, and my youngest brother, Jordan Brady, had played

drums on that earlier version. It’s important to note that Jordan is a very different than Will

Vickery. Both are competent, inventive and dynamic musicians in their own right, but Jordan has

a much more aggressive approach to hard rock drumming. He’s incredibly fast, and has

tremendous punk, metal and math-rock chops. So, when I showed Jordan my idea for the song,

all those years ago, he went into the studio and created a drum part, in one take, that was pure,

thrashing, fast and furious perfection. Then the song sat there for two years.

When we started production on the record, I showed the demo to Will, and he loved it. But that

style of playing wasn’t necessarily in his wheelhouse. It was full of Tasmanian Devil drum fills,

quick stops, hammering the cymbals until they crack, etc. Will, God bless him, took the demo

home and rehearsed it until he’d learned it beat for beat. It was the only song on the record he

actually practiced before we recorded it.

I always wanted this song to start the record because I believe in setting a tone. If we’d started

with a more mellow, “easy listening” kind of song, and then the listener played this one, it would

be too jarring a switch. By opening with this track, we’re making a clear statement: this is a rock

record, adjust your attitude accordingly.

Lyrically, this song is about our need for God. He is our healer, our provider, our strength and

the very life in our bodies. Every breath in our lungs, every beat of our hearts, and every

morning we awake is a gift from Him alone. Each song on this record deals with an aspect of

our relationship with God, His love for us and our love for Him. And every song is addressed to

Him directly. As you listen to these tracks, let the songs speak to God from your own heart

about your love, longing and need for Him.

Thanks for reading this.

Love,

Locke