Kenny Truhn – “Mangosteen”

July 27th, 2022

The man, the myth, the legend, Kenny Truhn, is back with “Mangosteen”, the follow up album to his 2019 project, “Mandarin”. If you’re not familiar with Kenny, he is a musical wizard. When he isn’t performing as Kenny Truhn, you can catch him rapping as Snottaynose, rocking R&B as the soulful Kenneth Wood, and screaming his lungs out in his metal band, As Dark As You. This dude has more talent and charisma than anyone I know. He works his ass off for his music to give the listener the best possible listening experience, and Kenny’s unmatched talent shines throughout this new album. If you’re not on the Kenny Truhn train yet, you will be by the time you finish reading this!

Kenny starts off “Mangosteen” with a bang with the fast paced track, “Got You Waiting”. I wasn’t expecting such a quick, heavy start to the album. Kenny does an amazing job of grabbing the listener instantly. This song gets you moving and sets you up perfectly for an amazing album listening experience. As the song begins, you are immediately transfixed on Kenny’s vocals. “They got you waiting, right on the front line. Who are we saving, losing this precious time? They got you waiting, they’re stopping on a dime, do what they’re saying, not like you have a life.” I LOVE this opening line of the song because you can apply the meaning to so many different aspects of life. I read into it as that you need to live for yourself, and not waste time waiting on others. Ultimately, what are you waiting for? The end of “Got You Waiting” is one of my favorite parts of this entire album. The orchestra that Kenny uses in this track adds an elegance to the song that goes so well with the fast paced, chaotic nature of the track!

Something you should know as you’re diving into this album is that you will NEVER hear two of the same songs on a Kenny Truhn project. He proves this instantly with track two. “Mangosteen” follows up with “Purple Mangosteen”, the album title track if you will. This song is where you get the first glimpse of the diversity that Kenny brings to the album. You know that type of instrumental that just hits you right away, and it’s as if your body is involuntarily dancing? “Purple Mangosteen” has that instrumental! It starts off with simple drumming that you can’t stop from rocking along to. The song leads then leads into Kenny’s vocals. “You’re crowding my space. You’re too close to my plate. You’re biting the hand that feeds. You’re so full of my energy.” With this opening line, you can see that the first two songs are following a bit of a theme. While track one focused more on waiting on others and potentially wasting your time, this definitely touches on allowing others to use you and continue to waste your time. I mentioned Kenny’s rapping abilities earlier, and he lets it shine a bit in this track. His flow on the final verse of this track will have everyone singing along with him!

“Mangosteen” follows up with my favorite track on the album, “I Don’t Think We’re Ever Alone”. This track was the first song I heard from the album months back at a Kenny Truhn show and I have been hooked ever since. I can’t get enough of the dark, gritty nature of the track. It’s yet another song on the album that you won’t be able to resist nodding your head and moving your body along to! This is a song that fans will fall in love with for both the instrumental and lyrical content. I am a huge fan of this song for a few reasons, but one is that it is such an obscure topic. You hear most bands/artists create music about love and loss, responsibilities of life, etc. But rarely do you get to hear songs that take on topics such as the afterlife. “It just crept in through the door, like a black cat in the shadows. Do you hear that? Do you smell that? I think something’s burning. The blood was spilled, lives were lost, spirits lurk within these walls. There’s something weird going on, I don’t think we’re ever alone.” God damn I love this song! Next up on the album is “Old News”. In my opinion, this track has the strongest vocal opening on the album. “How do you know if you crossed a line? Everything’s blurred, nothing is fine. Did anything change while we paused the show? And all that remains are the skeletal bones. Old news, whatever happened. No clue, it was an accident. Stay true, despite the absence. We made due and now we’re laughing.”

In true Kenny Truhn fashion, he completely changes the vibe with the next track, “AlleyRats”. If I’m being honest, I wasn’t sure how I felt about this track on the very first listen. I think the drastic change from the previous song threw me off at first, but this song grew on me tremendously. I started to fall in love with this track the more I listened. It’s drastically different from the type of music you hear in mainstream now (although you can basically say that about any Kenny Truhn song). I love the incorporation of the jazz style instrumentals that make you want to dance along. I can picture Kenny performing this in a dark, smoky club in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It’s a quick, two minute banger that ends with some gnarly screaming vocals! The perfect way to get the listener amped up for the rest of the album.

“Mangosteen” continues on with “Susquehanna” and “Tumultuous Winds”. “Susquehanna” is a song that is full of emotion. Kenny takes us on a journey through his younger days, the days where family is all that matters and you have no concept of the responsibilities coming to you. He mentions multiple times “we were just children then”, focusing on the point that be a child is all that matters, not realizing the dangers, responsibilities, etc that come with living in this world. Another favorite track of mine, “Tumultuous Winds”, follows up next. This is going to become a fan favorite from “Mangosteen”! I love the instrumentals in this track. The wide variety of instruments and sounds that Kenny incorporates in this album is wild and this track is no exception. What I really love is how Kenny can make such a fun, dance inciting instrumental, fit perfectly with such serious lyrical content. “How can I give you when I got nothing left? How can I sell you on tumultuous winds..? Give me some time to mend. I’ll work it out. Nothing is you my friend.. let me heal in the sound.”

Kenny Truhn begins the end of the album with “Don’t Have A Say In Anything” and “The Bigger Plan”. “Don’t Have A Say..” is a song where Kenny lets his vocal skills shine. I can play this song over and over and over again and never get sick of it! This is the song where you’ll be able to hear a pin drop during the show. Everyone will want to hear Kenny’s voice echo through the venue during this one! “But sometimes you stop to say hello. Make moments that stay in your soul. A voice echoes and I swear I think its you, singing in the meadows, I always knew that you’d come through for me. I don’t have the key, our death is guaranteed. If you’re living to breathe, just plant a tree. The end is coming shortly, no use in running from that pain you’re feeling lately, it doesn’t matter at all. You can’t take nothing with you, just leave it all on the floor, spend all your time looking for truth in the lies.” “The Bigger Plan” follows up, and it is a song that has a special meaning for Kenny. Kenny stated, “The Bigger Plan was written at my family’s house and is a personal tune about them and how the last ten years we’ve all been spread apart. When I visited for the holidays we were all together again and that song came out of me. Low key the most meaningful of the record. It was the most grounding on the record tying everything together humbling myself.”

“Mangosteen” comes to its conclusion with “This Moment”. I am obsessed with the strings on this track. They sound beautiful and immediately hook the listener. The first line of the track hits home and is something every single person can relate to. “Get out of your head and start living in this moment”. Sometimes, we ALL need this reminder! Kenny Truhn exceeded expectations with this album. He put ten extremely powerful tracks together to create one of the best albums of 2022. Make sure you follow Kenny Truhn on all social media platforms, stream some songs from “Mangosteen” HERE, and check out the music video for “I Don’t Think We’re Ever Alone” below!