If you’ve ever wished your old journal entries could magically turn into an album, Matthew Lee Patterson has basically done the emotional heavy lifting for you. Black Book, the debut album from his project Matthew Lee and the Standbys, is ten tracks of pure reflection — the kind that feels lived-in, a little bruised, but also quietly triumphant.
Recorded in New York City with producer Zack Eldridge, the album pulls together songs written over nearly a decade and stitches them into one cohesive story about how we latch onto people, places, ideas… and how we slowly, bravely, let go. It starts with the naïve unraveling of “Falling Apart” and somehow circles all the way back to the grounded warmth of “My, Oh My” — a song Patterson calls a weathered reach toward the person you know is truly your life partner. It’s the kind of full-circle moment that makes you want to hit replay just to experience the journey all over again.
Black Book is a beautiful tangle of influences: the thoughtful lyricism of The Weakerthans, the melodic punch of The Wonder Years, and the textured glow of retro-emo and indie rock. Expect lush guitars, layered synths, a little accordion for extra flavor, and a band built on Patterson’s 2000s emo/pop-punk roots. Everything sounds raw yet polished — like it grew up, but didn’t outgrow its heart.
And woven softly through the album is a quiet queerness — not loud, not forced, just honest. Patterson writes with a steady empathy, whether he’s touching on his friends’ stories or the openness of his own marriage. “If someone connects with any part of this,” he notes, “they’re connecting with a queer person.” It gives the record a grounding presence, a reminder that identity threads itself through all the little moments.
At its core, Black Book is about resilience: anxiety, defiance, trust, love, and the small truths we uncover along the way. It feels like flipping through someone’s emotional scrapbook and finding pieces of yourself tucked inside. And as Patterson himself admits — something he’s had to learn more than once — no one is ever meant to carry everything alone.
Black Book is a decade’s worth of lived experience folded into ten tracks
